Imprints, Soul Mates, and Other Halves
by findingmymuse
Summary: 4th & last in the Maxlight series. READ THEM FIRST! Without the School or the Volturi breathing down their necks, the group begin to settle down and enjoy life freely. But sometimes being with those they love is the thing that might cost them their lives
1. Flashbacks

**Disclaimer: I write under the pennames "James Patterson" and "Stephanie Meyer." It gets confusing at times, but I manage. JK. I've never even met them and would probably be too nervous to even say hello if I did...so as you can see, I am not either of them so I clearly don't own their characters. I do, however, have my own characters mixed in here. **

**AN: Skips a year every _ in this chapter. Sorry for any confusion about it in advance though.**

Chapter One

Angel's POV

______

_Flashbacks_

* * *

_(One year after last chapter of Sparkle, Soar, Shift)_

_Believe it or not, but Arian's first word was 'fly.' _

_He said his first official, understandable word today and his imprinter, parents, sister, Cullens, werewolves, and the Crew were ecstatic. Our family has become more tight nit since the tradgeties that tied us together over the past two years, what with the Volturi take down and making the School closing for good. _

_Allie Cullen-Black was just too cute whenever she was with AJ. Even though she was technically a few weeks younger than him, she was physically about six due to phasing every weekend with Jake, Will, and the rest of the Pack. She was like a big sister to him and I remember when I first met Seth, how that was how we were. Now he is my very best friend (no offense to Nudge). _

_At first, Max wasn't thrilled about the idea that her son was imprinted on, but she slowly grew to realize that it was the best thing for him in the long run. Though, how their bird/wolf children will grow is something that she doesn't think about or else she thinks of Nick, and that still makes her sad. _

_She still blames herself for not noticing that Fang wasn't the boy that she had shared a cage with for the first six years of her life. Both guys have forgiven her (though why is beyond me) and everything is looking up._

_Luckily, Max hasn't noticed how Annie acts whenever Will is around or she would flip out. Both of her children imprinted on. Who would have thought? _

_Bex is fully grown due to her Double Hybrid genes and its got me wondering how poor Gazzy will fare do to it. The two were so smitten last year when they were the same physical age, but now he's fourteen and she's eighteen. I feel bad for my brother because I think Bex is getting a crush on Nick. I know it will pass though. _

* * *

_Nudge looked beautiful in her one-of-a-kind dress. She was a young bride of seventeen, but that's how Max did it and she wasn't going to miss out on any time she had with Iggy before she got changed. (Carlisle agreed to change her since her mate was already going to live forever and it wasn't like Iggy had been a typical newborn.)_

_Her long brown hair had been curled and primped to where it wasn't raggedy like usual and it made her look like a princess. Her blue streaks were long forgotten by everyone but me and I only reminded her of her crazy mistake whenever it was her turn to wash the dishes. _

_Girly girl as she was, she didn't want a tiara or extra make-up; strawberry lip gloss and a new dress were the only things she requested. Alice and Rose had gone overboard on her hair and shoes, but that was their way so they were forgiven. _

_I took my place, enjoying the view I had from where I was standing. Iggy was twitching nervously until he spotted her and then that was all he saw. _

_Fang, his best man, grinned like an idiot at his friend who didn't even take notice. Nick and the Gasman were his groomsmen and four year old Arian was his ring bearer. _

_The little boy got so confused when he was walking down the aisle earlier that Max had to leave the line of bridesmaids and pick him up and set him in his seat, much to the amusement of the rest of the bridal party. Ella was the maid of honor, but Max and I were the bridesmaids so we were still included. _

"_I do." Nudge and Iggy said at the same time, too impatient for Carlisle to drag out the ceremony any longer than necessary. _

* * *

_I'm going to kill Ella! Collin too! How dare they try and keep this a secret from us! _

_The two went on a 'camping trip' last weekend and came back with wedding bands. They got eloped! Sure, she's nineteen, and he's definitely at least that due to staying physically that age due to phasing, but it was foolish and devastating to not be a part of the ceremony. _

_I don't know who was madder when they found out; Max or Alice. Max hated that her sister left her out of something so important, but Alice was a vampire that thrived for parties and weddings. She had been planning Ella's since Collin imprinted on her at the double wedding three years ago. _

_Needless to say, no one is helping them with their honeymoon plans. _

_Not that they care, though. They're so blissfully happy and even though I'm only fourteen, I want that someday. I wonder if this is how Max felt about Fang when she was my age. We both had our soul mates…mine just happened to be a shape shifter instead of an Avian American. _

_I want the whole package and I'm glad that I have Seth for that when we're ready for it. Still…I envy the couples around me. _

_Nudge and Iggy's little girl Sierra is four months old now. Her dull mocha skin barely shimmers in the light and, so far, she hasn't wanted any blood or shown any signs of vampire venom. Other than that, she looks a lot like Iggy. She has his blue eyes (which looked strange at first in the face of a kid the skin color of Nudge) and his smile. Her hair is a mix between the two of them though. Brown like Nudge's but with random blonde mixed in. _

_Nudge's pregnancy was much smoother than any of the other combination of human/vampire ones and she could probably have ten more kids before she gets changed, but they've decided that Sierra is enough for them. _

_Though Rosalie is disappointed about the lack of babies in the future for the two of them because they swear they're going to stop trying when she's 2% bird, 48% human, and 50% vampire like Iggy, she is still hopeful that they'll slip up. _

_The idea of one of their children once she's changed is something that's one pretty much everyone's minds. And I do mean everyone. Iggy is the only one who isn't curious, but that's only because he believes that Nudge doesn't want any more. _

_Silly, naïve boy. Girls don't ever mean what they say._

* * *

_Finally! _

_Gazzy finally got up the courage to ask Bex out. The girl had been avoiding him for a week, but when he got in her face and told her that he liked her, she was shocked. She had been waiting for him to grow up, but the older he got, the more nervous she was. He was seventeen, a foot taller than her, and absolutely in love with her. He just didn't know the last part yet. _

_They're going out tonight and Nessie is getting her daughter ready at the Black Mansion while Gazzy is pacing back and forth at our house with the Cullens. He's so nervous, poor guy, but there's a poll going to see when he pukes from butterflies and I have money ridding on it so I can't really comfort him right now. _

_Seth's bet was one minute before mine and I was mentally begging my brother to hold out until after Seth's time. Call me crazy, but beating my best friend/crush at something stupid is my goal in life lately. Everything we do is a contest and I don't know what I'll do if I loose again. _

_Gazzy always says we're crazy, but he doesn't know what its like to be imprinted on. Sure, him and Bex went through some of the same stages Seth and I went through, but they didn't have the same bond that an imprint shares with their wolf. Indescribable. _

_A car pulled into the driveway and I watched as Nessie got out of the car with her practically grown children, leaving Bex in the front seat waiting for Gazzy to get in the passenger side. He nodded to Nessie in passing, just barely not loosing his cool when she winked at him, and he got in the car. _

_While they were gone, I busied myself with playing with Emma Black, physically ten and Will Black, now physically six. Annie Ride is seven and about her imprint's age so the two enjoy the game more than Emma, the only imprint-less Cullen-Black, does._

_Seth and I played house with them. We always got to be the parents, of course, since we were the oldest. But secretly it was because I felt content with the make believe role so I made sure to volunteer us. _

_Allie Black, fully grown at physical age of nineteen, usually sits and watches us. Her imprint Arian Ride is still too young to understand the game fully, being only four and a half, but that doesn't stop the two of them from playing every now and then. Today he was asleep in her arms, so we played without them. _

_By the time Gazzy and Bex got back from their date, it was almost two in the morning. Their minds weren't in the gutter like I thought they'd be for being teenagers that were gone all night. Instead, I got to see both sides of their recaps of the night, over and over again. _

_The way LaDaDiner smelled and the pride she felt when he held the door open for her like a gentleman; his palms sweating when he reached for her hand; her laughing it off and ignoring her own sweaty palms; the cool air as they lay under the stars on top of the car; the gentle way he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and leaned in for a kiss; the excitement she felt of finally realizing that she loved him; the way she accidentally blurted out those three little words and the blush that came along with it; the way he whispered it back just as a shooting star shot overhead; and the feeling of pure bliss when the CD in the car got stuck and they accidentally found 'their song.' _

_I swear, I'm going to have "Today was a Fairytale" by Taylor Swift stuck in my head for the rest of my life…at least we know what to play at their wedding. _

* * *

_I stared into Seth's eyes, begging him to take the hint, but knowing I would have to give him a little hint. I bit my bottom lip and tasted the strawberry lip gloss, silently begging Seth to taste it too. I turned sixteen today and I wanted a birthday kiss._

_He was my imprinter for crying out loud! Wasn't that supposed to mean something? I thought that when the imprint was ready, their wolf would just get the hint. But no, Seth had to be the one Quileute that was clueless. _

_I scanned his mind. …_she looks really pretty. I hope she doesn't hear this. I wonder what she would do if I kissed her? Just once. Just to see what its like…

_I had enough of his back and forth thoughts. I needed to kiss my Seth. Needed it like oxygen. And bird teens need a lot of oxygen. _

"_I'll tell you what I'll do if you kiss me just once." I threatened angrily and Seth gulped. He hated when I read his mind, but he couldn't deny me it since I was his imprint. _

_I moved closer to where we were centimeters apart. "I'll kick your butt from here to Arizona." I said, letting him feel my words against his lips. It almost counted as a kiss itself, but not quite. _

_Luckily, Seth took the hint. He closed the distance between the two of us and molded his lips with mine in a bone crushing, needy way. I responded eagerly, glad that he waited for me these last five and a half years. _

* * *

________

**AN: Sorry if this was confusing. Its sort of a Prologue. The rest of this story will be five years after the last story. **


	2. Growing Children

**AN: Here is a recap on everything that has changed. There is a chapter at the bottom of this, so you can skip this if you want. Its just for my readers who might be confused about the sudden age changes. **

Nine years after MAX. Ages: Angel-16. Gasman-18; Nudge-20 Iggy-22 Ella-22,Fang, Nick, & Max-23

Twelve years after Breaking Dawn; ages: Nessie-12 (looks about 18),Collin-23, Seth-25, Jake-26, Leah- 29, Embry-28

MY WOLVES: Dylan-17, Tibias, David-18, Jeremiah & Joshua-20, Scotty-21

* * *

-Seth imprinted Angel; Leah & Embry imprinted by force (both quit the Pack); Collin imprinted on Ella

-Allie imprints on Arian; Will imprints on Annie

Married: Max & Fang; Nessie & Jake; Nudge & Iggy; Ella & Collin

* * *

-Edward has all the same mind powers as Angel; Bex can create dolls that talk

-Alice can see the wolves by looking for blank spots in everyone's futures; she can see Bex the same way she does Nessie…very fuzzy; sees experiments fine

-Iggy was changed during the Volturi attack. He's now 2% bird, 48% human, & 50% vampire; like Nessie but he has his wings still and got his sight completely back; Nudge was changed after they married

* * *

NEW CHARACTERS

-Rebecca Sarah Cullen "Bex"- looks like a darker skinned version of Nessie; grows faster than Nessie did (6; (fully grown) looks eighteen; Nauhel's daughter; Double Hybrid)

-Emma Roseme Black-straight bronze hair; pale vampire skin tone; Edward's green eyes (½ vampire. ½ human. Like Nessie) (5; looks about 13)

-Allison Jazzlyn Black "Allie"-curly black ringlets; russet skin tone; Bella/Nessie's brown eyes (½ werewolf. ½ human. Like Jacob) (5; (fully grown)looks 19)

-William Anthony Carl Black "Will"- brown hair mixed with bronze hair; pale russet skin tone; Jacob's dark eyes (¼ vamp, ¼ werewolf. ½ human) (5; looks about 9)

* * *

-Anastasia Ride "Annie" (Max II's)-tan wings with brown specks like Max and heightened senses & strength due to Gremlin; short wavy blonde-brown hair; same color as Max; brown eyes like Max (8)

-Arian Journey Ride "AJ"- black wings with light brown specks; brown-blonde hair, darker color than Max skin tone; dark brown eyes like Fang (5 1/2)

* * *

Sierra Griffin-dull mocha skin barely shimmers in the light (doesn't want any blood or have vampire venom), blue eyes, Iggy's smile, brown hair with random blonde mixed in. (2 ½ years old)

* * *

THE CREW

-Nudge II "Nuala"-dating Denver; new blue streaks; identical to normal Nudge otherwise (20)

-Denver-2% horse, long brown hair that whips, hove legs, brown eyes, tan skin (20)

-Serenity-part robot, dark hair, pale skin, brown eyes (19)

-Kirby-2% frog, blonde hair, random green spots on skin, croaks when nervous (17)

-Angel II "Two-Two"-becomes leader of The Crew; isn't imprinted on by Seth though identical to Angel-dating Kirby; dyed hair brown to avoid confusion (16)

* * *

Chapter Two

Nessie's POV

"Rebecca Sarah Black! Get down here this instant!" I yelled up the stairs for my eldest daughter. Though she was technically six, she was fully grown and I tried to treat her that way like my parents had for me. Today was not one of those times. I had a sneaking suspicion that she wasn't here and that was intolerable in this house.

"She already left." Emma Roseme spoke up from the kitchen table. Her long straight bronze hair reminded me so much of my own that I thought for a second that I was looking in a mirror instead of at my daughter. One look at those green eyes and I knew I wasn't.

"Left when?" I asked back, looking around for my other three children. Emma was the only one anywhere to be found. "And where are Allie and Will?"

Physically thirteen year old Emma shook her head. "I think Daddy took them hunting this morning. He wanted to see if Will could stay wolf long enough to take that big hunting trip next month. They've been gone for like six hours now."

I frowned. I hadn't even noticed Jacob getting out of bed this morning.

"And Bex?" I asked, trying to find out where my eldest daughter was. Now that her and the Gasman were an official couple (and had been for a year now) I hardly ever saw her at the house.

Jacob said it was nothing to worry about and I was just being paranoid, but with so many horror stories of teenaged pregnancies, and what with Ella and Collin sneaking off in the middle of the night to elope a few years ago, well I wasn't taking any chances.

"She, um, wanted to go to the main house…" Emma admitted. She was the only one of my children who didn't have an imprint, but she tried to cover for her siblings when they needed to spend time with their future mates.

Even though Bex hadn't imprinted (because she didn't have any wolf DNA due to who her 'sperm donor' was), she still acted as if her and Gazzy were that much of soul mates. I still call it puppy love, but they say it's the real deal. Besides, they're only eighteen; him literally and her physically.

Just then, my Jacob walked through the door with Allison Jazzlyn and William Anthony Carl behind him. I sprinted to my husband's side and captured his lips with my own. He grinned against my lips and I knew I would forgive him for not waking me up when he left this morning.

"I'm sorry." He apologized anyway, hearing my thoughts in his head due to our physical contact.

"Ew. Gross." Will said, his physically nine year old mind terrified of the thought of 'cooties' still. His imprint Anastasia Ride was only eight too so at least they were on the same mind set for now.

Jacob ruffled Will's brown-bronze hair and laughed. "One day you won't think this is gross and you're gonna love being able to kiss your wife whenever you come home."

Will rolled his dark Jacob eyes and shrugged. "Doubtful." He muttered and went to steal some of Emma's lucky charms. He ate more than anyone in the house; blood, meat, and human food; yet he never seemed to be full.

"What about you? No plans with AJ this morning?" I asked Allie, wondering why she was out hunting instead of spending every waking moment with her five and a half year old imprint.

"Nah. I'm gonna take him to First Beach later today with Will and Annie so I decided to give Max and Fang some time with their kids before then." Allie said logically. It was hard to think of her as my five year old little girl when she was physically nineteen and looked older than me.

"When did you get so reasonable?" I asked, tucking one of her curly black ringlets behind her ear. The look in her brown eyes told me that I had clearly missed her 'becoming an adult' phase. "You used to be my little puppy, running around barking at people." I said with a sad sigh.

"You are just like your mother." Jacob commented in my ear and I giggled.

"I can't help it if I want my children to stay little." I replied back. Will and Emma were the only ones not fully grown already and even their time was limited. Emma would be my physical age in two years. Will's age stop was a little less specific.

"What are we going to do about Bex?" I asked miserably. I had never had to punish my children, but Bex seemed to rebel against every rule I had in place. Having grown up completely in half the time it took me, I knew she was still processing the fact that her childhood was over in less than two years.


	3. Above a Cloud

Chapter Three

Max's POV

"Good flip, Annie!" I called out, marveling at my eight year old daughter showing off in the clouds above the rainy town of Forks. If we stayed just above the clouds, we could avoid getting our wings wet. The negative charge up here meant we couldn't get that close to each other though or we'd be electrocuted. Win some, loose some.

Anastasia grinned in response. Her tan wings were speckled with brown like mine, her blonde-brown hair was the same color as mine, and she had my brown eyes, but there were so many ways that she was nothing like me or Max II, her biological mother.

Annie is a spirited girl, but she isn't wild or rebellious. She's sweet as sugar, but shies away from strangers and can barely say more than two words to anyone she isn't comfortable with.

She knows who she is and she loves everything she has been given. Though she sometimes has nightmares from before she was four and still living at the School, she doesn't ever let it get her down. She's dealt with her past in a way that makes her so much more grown up than even I was at that age.

AJ let out a whimper and I found my five year old son in the mass of birdkids in the sky this morning. His brown speckled black wings were beating normally and there didn't seem to be anything wrong with him so I raised an eyebrow.

"He is just anxious to see Allie." Nudge said, her skin sparkling in the sunlight to where I had to look away. It was still weird to see her and Iggy out in the sunlight, because otherwise, I don't remember that they're both half vampire, forty-eight percent human, and two percent bird now.

"I mean, he hasn't seen his imprinter in, like, two days and from what Ella is always saying, that's like an eternity. But she could just be stretching truth 'cause she's married and she just thinks its that way for everyone. Is that how you feel when you are away from Fang…"

She continued to ramble on but I tuned her out and looked at my son for confirmation.

He looked at me with Fang's dark eyes and I was torn. On the one hand, this was family time and I loved spending time with just the Flock and my own mini-Flock; on the other hand, my son was in physical pain from being away from his imprinter.

I looked at Fang for help deciding what to do but, at the same moment, Sierra shot in between us and took off into the cloud below us. Her dull mocha skin was shimmering slightly, but at the speed the two year old was descending Iggy wouldn't have time to scold her about being in a human's eye line because she'd be struck by lightning in the storm below us.

Since no one else was fast enough to catch her before she got too deep in the thick, grey cloud, I shot down after her. Her brown hair was whipping crazily in the wind and I could see all of her underlined natural blonde highlights that I usually couldn't.

Sierra turned around to fall backwards and I could see Iggy's cocky smile on her lips. She stared at me with her startling blue eyes and I could see nothing but fun and amusement in them. She didn't see the danger in this at all.

I grabbed her and pulled her upwards, hitting my hyper drive just as a bolt of lightning shot off next to us. Her parents were worried, and Nudge looked about ready to cry, but when I passed Sierra back to them, they both smiled at their little girl.

"You really are in your terrible twos, aren't you?" Nudge said with a laugh, kissing the top of her vampire bird daughter's head.

"Sierra Griffin, you are in trouble when we get back to the main house." Iggy scolded, but I knew he wouldn't be able to stay mad at her. She was too adorable.

Sierra was a firecracker, no pun intended towards Iggy's pyroness. She was always getting into trouble by being reckless and doing things she knew was wrong, but she rarely actually got punished. She had her parents wrapped around her little finger; but that was Iggy and Nudge's business though so I tried to stay out of it.

"We really should go before this storm gets too bad and we're stuck up here." Gazzy said. My little trooper was eighteen if you could believe it, and was getting ready to ask Bex to marry him (unknown to her, of course). My how the time had flown.

That just left sixteen year old Angel as the only unmarried member of my family, and even she already had her husband lined up. I couldn't ask for a better guy for my little girl, though, so I wasn't upset with the arranged marriage type situation. The way her and Seth acted together, you would think they were already down the aisle.

When we got to the house, Bex was already waiting for Gazzy and the two took off in her car like usual. They never stayed put; always finding something fun to do somewhere else-movies, restaurants, arcades, picnics, even just window shopping in Port Angeles.

"Nessie isn't going to be happy when she finds out." Alice predicted, pointing her finger in the couple's direction. They were already long gone now though so there was no point in going after them.

"Do you know when the Blacks will be here?" Annie asked sweetly. "Will promised to take me to the beach to pick shells. I'm even going to wear the new swim suit you bought me yesterday." She added and Alice's face lit up.

Though Alice loved all of us, and especially our children, Annie was definitely her favorite. The little girl loved being Alice's clothing guinea pig. Another thing that sets us apart.

"Who else will be there? So I can try to _see _what time you'll get to First Beach." Alice said.

"Allie is gonna watch us…well watch AJ mostly, but its just gonna be the four of us." Annie stated. "Most of the wolves are preparing for the bonfire so they shouldn't get in the way."

Alice nodded. Her visions were still fuzzy when it involved the wolves and half vampires, but she could see experiments just fine since we are mostly human.

"I see you there in two hours." Alice predicted and Annie and Arian's faces fell. They really missed their imprinters.

"Why don't you go play with Arian and Sierra for a little while until they come?" I prompted.

The children disappeared into the backyard and I sighed. This was so much harder than I'd expected it to be.

"Now you know what I felt." Edward said, coming out of nowhere with Bella beside him. "Having your daughter imprinted on from such a young age is the hardest thing for a parent to have to deal with."

Fang simply nodded in agreement and Angel frowned. "Imprinting is the greatest thing that could happen to a person." She stated and I laughed. She had been away from Seth too long and was getting grouchy.

"Am not." She replied to my thoughts and I laughed again. "Besides, he'll be here in less than a minute so I won't be 'grumpy' anymore."

I frowned. This whole 'I can feel when my wolf is near' business was still something that my mind hadn't begun to process.

Sure enough, though, a minute later, Seth walked in the front door. Collin was behind him and had my half sister being carried piggyback style. She had a certain glow to her, but I shook it off. She couldn't be…

Angel was at Seth's side at once, her lips permanently attached to his as she stood on her tiptoes and he wrapped his arms around her. Ah, young love.

Most people would be freaked out that their sixteen year old sister was dating a guy who was twenty-five, but there really was no stopping them. Angel's mind control alone was enough to convince me that she was ready to have a boyfriend. She didn't want to have to wait to kiss him until she was legally of age because, as she so cleverly pointed out, Fang and I kissed when we were only fourteen.

"Where's Jake?" Collin asked with a huge grin on his face.

Seth, who finally pulled himself away from Angel and now had her sitting on his lap on the floor, smiled as well. Stupid werewolf power that let them know each others secrets before anyone else.

I could see that Angel was trying not to pry in their minds, but eventually caved. I only know that she caved because she let out a squeal.


	4. Important News

Chapter Four

Jake's POV

"Make sure you don't mention that you know, okay?" I said to Will and Allie who had been in wolf form when I found out the news myself. "Your mother, Emma, and the rest of the Cullens and Flock members don't know about it and we wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

The two nodded and continued to load into the van. Though it was easier to just run wolf, Emma was slow and Nessie didn't like leaving her daughter who was so much like herself out.

"Hurry up, Ness!" I called over my shoulder. She was at my side in an instant, using her father's speed to her advantage, a frown on her face.

"I know you know something." She stated.

That was how much we knew each other. The slightest tense of my shoulders and she knew I took the last ice cream bar, a fractional smile and she knew I wanted to kiss her until we ran out of breath, and pretending that I didn't have a secret let her know that I had something juicy I didn't want to share.

"I would tell you if I could." I stated, kissing her lips softly.

She smiled against my lips and bit down on my bottom one. She stopped when she started drawing blood, but I knew she wished she didn't have to. My blood appealed to her in a way that none of the other wolves' did. That made me proud considering not only was she was my imprint, but she was also half vampire and I was her 'mortal enemy.'

I let out a growl when she licked the little bit of blood off of my lip and she giggled.

Someone cleared their throat behind us and I held my Nessie to my side as we looked at our nineteen year old daughter.

"Seriously, dad, you guys are disgusting." Allie said, rolling her eyes teasingly. "But if we want to see Bex at all today, we should probably catch her before her and Gazzy take off somewhere." She stated logically.

Emma and Will were buckled up in the backseat by now and I nodded. Allie slid in the back with them and I took the driver's side with Nessie on my right. When we were all safely strapped in, I started the engine and drove us to the familiar Cullen Mansion. **(AN: That's my 'click it, or ticket' shout out)**

It was less of a drive there from our house than from my childhood home with Billy, but it still took a good ten minutes and I could tell Nessie was starting to get impatient.

"What happened to the speed demon that I married?" My Ness asked with a smirk. "Loosing your edge, Mr. Black?"

I growled. "My father is Mr. Black."

She always called me that when she was irritated with me over something stupid.

"Really? Well, from where I'm sitting, you're an old man." She teased. "Seriously, Jake? We're barely going thirty."

"Yeah, but the speed limit _is _thirty." I stated, knowing it was getting under her skin. "Your grandfather is the police chief. What kind of an example would I be setting for our kids if I got arrested?"

"Like Charlie would ever pull you over." Nessie said with a huff. "I just want to get there before I start aging again." She joked.

"I wouldn't mind you aging a bit, though I must admit I like your eighteen year old body." I said, turning slightly to wink suggestively at my wife.

"Ewww. I will forever have that disgusting image in my head." Allie complained.

I smiled back at my second youngest child, watching as her scowl never left her face. She looked like she might get sick and I was thankful that Will and Emma were still mentally too young to understand what I had meant.

Though she technically looked older than her mother, she definitely acted like a child that her five years on earth had made her. Well, that and the fact that her imprint was not even six yet so she wasn't anywhere ready to understand being in love or the physical-ness that goes with it.

"Oh look, we're here." Nessie spoke up, trying to distract Allie from her thoughts about her parents. "Why don't you guys go find Bex?"

Allie was met at the front door by her small dark winged imprint and Will went off in search of Annie. Niether would be help in rounding up their sister.

"Okay, Mama." Emma said reluctantly, being the only one with no one to find and not wanting to search for her sister. She knew as well as I did that my eldest daughter was not on the premises. I couldn't smell Gazzy's distinct odor with my heightened senses, so I knew that she wasn't here either. They were inseparable.

Luckily, I trusted Gazzy to be responsible more than I trusted Bex. Don't get me wrong, Bex is amazing, but she is also a teenaged girl very much like her grandmother Bella. If Gazzy didn't have morals, I would never let the two out of my sight. There was no way I was ready to be a grandfather at age twenty-six.

"Jake!" Collin yelled when he heard the car pull up. My children had already run inside, leaving Nessie and I to make our way inside more slowly. "Hurry up, man!"

I could hear the excitement in his voice and wondered how long he was going to keep from telling the secret. From the way his voice shot up just now, I would say that now was the time.

I took a seat on the floor next to Seth and Angel, pulling Nessie into my lap like Seth had his imprint, and motioned for Collin and Ella to make their big announcement. From the looks on Max and Angel's faces, I could tell that they already knew/guessed.

"I'm pregnant!" Ella squealed, dropping her hand to her stomach in a proud gesture.

The Cullens and Flock smiled at their brother and sister of sorts, happy for the couple to have their very own miracle after two years of marriage.

Max growled at Collin and I knew that the fireworks were about to begin. As always, Max didn't disappoint.

"What were you thinking! Ella is _human. _She isn't strong enough to carry a werewolf child, but do you think of that? No. All you care about is trying to carry on your stupid legacy!" Max yelled angrily at Collin, never once glancing at the hurt look on Ella's face. "I never should have invited Ella to my wedding, then maybe you wouldn't have imprinted and I wouldn't be worried for my sister's life!"

"Max, stop!" Ella sobbed, huge, wet tears gliding down her cheeks as she tried to get her half-sister's attention. "Please! You can't blame Collin. Please?"

Collin pulled his wife to him in a comforting manner, but she craned her neck so she could still keep eye contact with Max.

"I'm not even sure if the baby will phase or not. Please Max, for me, can you just let me have this moment?" Ella begged. "I was so thrilled when I found out. All I wanted to do was tell _you, _Max. You have Annie and AJ and I thought you would understand the joy I'm feeling, but I guess I was wrong."

"I'm just looking out for you." Max said, startled by Ella's confession.

Ella smiled weakly. "I know. But right now, I don't need a protective mothering type. I need my big sister."

"I'm sorry." Max said, trying to calm herself down. "I just can't help worrying about you, El. Its part of my job."

"We wanted Carlisle to check Ella out later today." Collin spoke up, eyeing Max warily. He looked at the doctor who simply nodded.

Much to my surprise, this satisfied Max. She smiled at the couple shyly and Fang smirked.

The Cullens would have to add more rooms to their house if they planned on housing all of the Flock and all of their future children.


	5. Determined

Chapter Five

Ella's POV

"What do you mean 'there's a problem?'" I heard my husband growl from the seat next to me.

"Shh, calm down, Collin." I said, rubbing his arm comfortingly. "I'm sure Carlisle was just about to explain any minor problems he's detected." I tried to sound brave, but in truth, I was terrified.

My baby bump showed up seemingly overnight so the first thing we did was tell our family and come to the vampire doctor for a check up. We didn't really know what to go on so I wanted to make sure that the good doctor was informed right away.

We only have a few wolf girls to base my pregnancy on, but none of them were helpful.

Nessie's pregnancy had been two months with the triplets, but she is half vampire so I'm not sure if that affected it. Not to mention the fact that the two of them phase and the other is vampire-y.

Leah had only been pregnant for seven months with Madison Sophia Call (who shows no werewolf tendencies) and was pregnant for three months with their son Harry Lane Call who has already phased despite the fact that he's two. We rarely get to see the children though because Embry is a super overprotective parent.

As for Sam and his wife Emily, well, no one really knows because they left town right after the show-down with the School. They sent post cards of their four girls, but I can't ever tell them apart, so I just call them One through Four.

"Well, where do I start?" Carlisle said mainly to himself.

It was funny to see the human traits that the Cullens kept from their former lives.

Rose still flips her hair to be flirty. From what I've noticed of the vampire women, their hair will stay perfectly in place if they don't mess with it, so there is definite effort put into it.

Carlisle mutters to himself even when no one is around.

Edward pinches the bridge of his nose when irritated or annoyed.

Esme hugs like crazy, whether it be with humans, vampires, or werewolves.

Alice bounces up and down in excitement like a little child.

Emmett, well, he flexes his muscles whenever he passes a mirror or a pond of water. I'm not sure if this is a human tendency or he is proud of his vampire strength, though.

Jasper hasn't really shown any tendencies, but then again, I never really see him and when I do, he's trying not to attack the human-ish people in the room.

As for Bella, well, the girl would blush if she could. Still, its easy to notice when she's embarrassed because she looks down at the ground slightly.

"You could start with what you saw on the sonogram?" I half asked, trying to get the good doctor on the right path again before Collin phased in impatience.

"That's a very good place to start." Carlisle said with a genuine smile in my direction. Whatever the news was, it mustn't be good.

Dr. Cullen cleared his throat and pulled the x-ray like picture closer into the light so we could see it clearly.

"Wow." was all that Collin could say.

Our little baby was half grown. It was in a distinct shape that was fit for possibly a five month old fetus (I couldn't be sure though because I had taken Anatomy so long ago that I was merely guessing on the physical age of the baby inside me.)

"A boy?" I asked, not sure if I was seeing it correctly or not. Collin grinned in response to the news, though I knew that he'd be equally as excited if it had been a girl.

"That's where it gets complicated." Carlisle said with a frown.

"I don't understand." I said slowly, knowing Collin was too shocked to say anything. I usually did most of the talking for us, and as his imprint, whatever I wanted I got.

"See this little blob, right behind the fetus that you recognized?" Carlisle asked, pointing to a blotchy alien looking thing. "That is another fetus."

"Twins?" I asked, knowing that the pictures didn't match up, but knowing that my mind wasn't creative enough to come up with any other explanation. The second fetus was barely two months along, and I was surprised to be able to even recognize it at all.

"Fraternal twins." Carlisle said slowly, trying to see if Collin and I were following what he said.

"How…how is that possible?" My husband asked, finally recovering from his shock.

"One of your sons is already six months along due to his werewolf accelerated birth rate…" Dr. Cullen paused and I knew there was a 'but' coming. I was right. "But the other one, which may be another boy or could end up being a girl because right now its too early to tell, is only two and a half months along."

"Why are the children who phase accelerating the pregnancies?" I asked. It had happened with Nessie and with Leah, and now it was happening to me. "From what I know about the current wolves, they all had traditional nine month pregnancies."

"A wolf's job is to protect its' people from Cold Ones. Imprinting, and the children that occur because of it, is meant to create stronger future wolves." Carlisle said logically. "But, since the Cullens still live so close and we weren't around when the current wolves were born, they weren't affected, but their children are."

I frowned in confusion, glancing at Collin to see if he understood what this meant. His expression was blank, but I could see the fire in his eyes. Uh-oh.

"So this is the bloodsuckers' fault?" Collin growled. "Or mine?"

"So one twin will phase and the other one won't?" I asked, trying to keep Carlisle talking so Collin wouldn't go off and phase angrily in his confused state.

"Yes, but that's not the part I'm worried about." Dr. Cullen said, addressing the two of us as if we were small children. "Baby One will be delivered in roughly about a month, probably less."

"And Baby Two?" I asked, afraid for the answer.

"I'm afraid he or she will only be three and a half months along at that point." Carlisle said slowly and a tear slid down my cheek when I got what he was implying. He continued anyways, mainly for Collin's benefit. "In order to deliver the first baby, we'll have to deliver the second one as well."

Dr. Cullen hesitated and left the inevitable conclusion hanging in the air above our heads.

I gripped Collin's hand and he stared at me frantically, finally understanding what Carlisle meant. Another wet tear slid down my face and I wiped it away before I could actually start bawling.

"Just say it." I begged. "Please, I need to hear it out loud."

"The second baby won't make it. He or she will be too premature to survive and will die the second we cut the cord." Carlisle stated, confirming my fears.

An idea occurred to me, but I knew it was too dangerous to even consider…still, I couldn't help but wonder.

Collin saw my expression and growled. "Don't be stupid, you come first Ella."

"What are you talking about?" Carlisle asked, noticing the expressions on both our faces and Collin's little outburst.

"I'm not letting my children die." I said stubbornly. "Either one of them."

"You don't actually plan to carry the second child to full term, do you?" Carlisle asked, his mouth gaped open in surprise. It took a lot to surprise a vampire as old as him so I felt special.

"I do." I stated. "Just be careful when you take out Baby One so you don't take Number Two with him." I said calmly. "Its easy enough to do."

"As your doctor, I can't recommend this, Ella." Carlisle warned sternly. "The risks to you and the fetuses is too great for you to even consider it…"

But I wasn't listening. My mind was already made up. I was going to save my babies if it killed me.


	6. Future Searching

Chapter Six

Jasper's POV

Tension was high in the house and I don't know how much longer I can stand it before I send a wave of calm to everyone.

Collin was worried about Ella's safety, Ella was determined to carry both children full term at risk to her own life, and Carlisle was upset that he hadn't made himself clear and now Ella was making a bad decision.

Emmett was busy trying to play doctor with Rose so they didn't actually know what was going on. I rarely checked on their feelings because they were always about each other and usually inappropriate for young ears to hear.

Bella and Edward were worried about how Nessie would react when Bex and Gazzy got home, Max was furious at Gazzy for leaving and worried sick about Ella, and Fang didn't feel anything other than love for Max-though he was concerned about Ella as well.

Angel and Seth were so full of lust that I simply stopped paying attention to them. Though his thoughts were probably more innocent than hers, what an imprint wants and feels, so does the wolf attached to her. I would have to warn Max about this new development soon.

Nudge and Iggy were trying to figure out what to do with their daughter Sierra, who seemed to be more trouble as of late than usual.

Will was watching Annie and AJ fly around outside and was jealous of the flying boy who got to soar the skies with his imprint, Allie was just as jealous that Annie was up there with Arian, and Emma was sulking in the corner because she didn't have anyone _to _be jealous about.

And Esme was worried for all of her children.

Like I said; a lot of tension in the house.

The only one who seemed to be calm under her own accord was my beautiful Alice. She was deep in thought about something so I knew not to disturb her. I couldn't help but wrap my arms around her though and kiss the base of her neck from behind. She was just too cute when she was distracted.

"Jasper, stop it." Alice said halfheartedly. We both knew that I could feel the happiness radiating off of her when I interrupted her thoughts.

"Whatever you say, ma'm." I said, laying on my southern accent thickly because I know how much it drives her crazy. I reluctantly let go of her and turned to face her.

There was a gleam in her eye when she mouthed, "I'll get you back later."

"So what were you doing just now?" I asked, trying to get her to forget that I was the one who distracted her a minute ago. "Scanning the future? Or planning a shopping trip?" I joked.

"As a matter of fact, I was trying to see the outcome of Ella's pregnancy." Alice stated with a frown. "Too bad Collin is a werewolf and so is one of the babies. It makes this all the more difficult."

"Can't you just try to see the future of the other baby? Or Ella perhaps?" I suggested.

"I can't place the other fetus yet because it isn't developed enough to make decisions." Alice huffed. "And Ella is so connected to the wolves, that there's no way to get a good reading on her future either."

I fought off a grin. My Alice hated it when she was blind, but she was so adorable when she was frustrated that I enjoyed watching her. Oh, who am I kidding, I always thought she was adorable.

"Jasper, this isn't funny." Alice fake whined, her lips curling into a pout.

Uh-oh, that pout is not a good sign.

"Jazz, can you do me a favor?" My wife asked, keeping the tiny pout on her face. "Pretty, pretty please?"

"Anything for you." I answered honestly.

"I want you to tie yourself to the second baby's future as if he or she is your own child." Alice said. She saw the expression on my face and continued. "I would do it myself, but it has always been easier to concentrate on someone else's future other than my own." She explained.

I nodded. I thought about seven months in the future, being able to rock the new little boy back and forth (plugging my nose the entire time because of the werewolf smell) and…nope, that was as close as I was going to cement myself to.

"I'm still not getting anything." Alice complained. "Are you sure you tied yourself to the right fetus?" She asked. "Maybe you aren't thinking far enough ahead."

"Seven months is plenty of time for the second baby to be born." I said. "Right?"

"Hmm, I don't know why this isn't working." Alice said, frustrated.

I scanned the room to make sure no one would hear me before I whispered, "Maybe that baby doesn't have a future for me to hold on to."

I knew if Alice were human, she would have cried. How do you break that kind of news to someone?


	7. Friendships

**AN: Sorry for the long gap between updates. School is kicking my butt. I will try to manage it better from now on. Review please :) **

Chapter Seven

Max's POV

Ella didn't take the news well that her second fetus wasn't going to make it to infancy. She was in denial for two whole weeks as her stomach continued to grow larger with the accelerated werewolf baby boy inside her. Collin was equally as upset, but it was because his wife and imprint was determined to carry the second, undetermined baby to full term. With only two more weeks left until Carlisle's predicted due date, everyone was tense.

It tourtured me to see my sister so upset, but we all knew that Alice's visions were never wrong. That fact alone made it difficult to be in the house all the time. Alice was guilty for having the vision, Esme and Rosalie were grieving for the loss of a potential baby in the house, Edward and Carlisle were busy in the study trying to figure out a way around the ultimatum, and everyone else tried to stay out of the way of the emotional women.

So instead of being at the Main House, I spent a fair amount of time at Crew Headquarters. I would have just gone to the Black Residence, but my imprinted children needed time away from their future mates and this was the perfect oppertunity. Besides, Nudge II (or Nuala as she's long been called), and her husband Denver had the most precious little boy that I loved to set the kids up to play with.

"We're here!" Arian yelled at the top of his lungs as soon as we entered the house.

"If we wanted to yell, we could have had Nudge do it." My little Annie joked. Her eight year old mind found that hilarious for she burst into laughter as Nudge and Iggy merely ignored the jab. My motormouth flock member had calmed down a substantial amount since she became a half vampire thing like her husband. I guess it was her human trait.

No one was in the foyer, so we made our way to the living room where there was likely to be one of the resident experiments.

Serenity, now nineteen and still as pale as ever, glanced up from the book she was reading in the rocking chair to acknowledge our presence. Her brown eyes blinked in greeting before she turned her attention back to the oversized novel in her lap, her dark hair falling halfway in her face in response.

It was times like these that I was reminded again of how robotic she truely was.

I heard him before I saw him, but Kirby appeared from behind the couch a moment after he croaked nervously. His blonde hair was in disaray like he had been in a heavy makeout session and there was sweat sticking to the back of his patchy green skin so I had to wonder if Angel's double was behind the couch as well.

"Of course I'm not." Two-Two commented from behind me, having come out of the kitchen with a bag of raisins. Sometimes I forgot that she's a mindreader as well, but only because she didn't use her power as much as my youngest flock member did.

Her brown hair, the only thing that sets her apart from my Angel, was in two pigtails, hinting at the innocent age she was. Though her and Angel were both sixteen and had older boyfriends (though her's was only by a year), Two-Two seemed to be the more mature, reasonable, cautionous dater.

"Of course I'm more mature." Two-Two stated logically. "What kind of leader would I be to the Crew if I were always focused on my boyfriend?"

I rolled my eyes at that one. How many times had my own flock accused me of the opposite before Fang and I tied the knot?

"Hey, where is my double?" Nudge asked half jokingly.

"Right here!" Nuala responded from the top of the stairs. She was carrying her two year old son Jayden on her hip while Denver followed behind them with their five month daughter Karrim.

"Oh my gosh, you won't believe how much this kid weighs now. Like seriously, he's so big. All he eats is Wheaties and grains. I tried to get him to eat, like, normal food like we do, but that was a no-go. Takes after his father, of course, 'cause of the horse genes and all, but I mean, could they not eat something else?..." She rambled, passing Jayden over to Nudge for comparison.

"You're right, he does weigh a lot." Nudge commented, pulling at the boy's pant leg to get a good look at his little kickers.

"I think it might be more about his hooves weighing him down than his lunch though." Iggy replied logically, sizing up the oversized brown hooves in place of the two year old's feet.

Jayden was pretty much an exact duplicate of his father Denver. Both had semi-long brown hair that whips whenever emotional, warm brown eyes, and hove legs. The only thing they differed in was skin color; Denver was tan while Jayden looked more like Nuala and had a light mocha skin tone.

Karrim, on the other hand, had a dark tan skin tone, black frizzy hair, and brown eyes. She was a better mixture of the two twenty-year olds, though she did have Nudge's tawny wings.

"I wanna go play, Mommy." Jayden whined, kicking his little hoves at Nudge's stomach in an attempt to get free from her grasp.

"Now what did I say about kicking people?" Denver said sternly. "You could really hurt someone like that, you know."

But the two year old wasn't listening. He had already spotted Sierra and Arian.

The three of them were so used to these forced play dates that they actually became friends in the process. Though my son was three years older than both of them, he still managed to have a good time. That left Anastasia as "watcher" over the three younger children. Annie loved the position so there was no way I would ever take it from her, or even tell her that Iggy or Fang would usually be watching them from the window anyways.

"But I wanna plaaaaay." Jayden whined again.

By this point, Nudge had lowered him to the ground so he would stop kicking her and he took that as his chance to escape.

"Don't go into the woods!" Denver yelled cautiously like he always did.

"I won't let them." Annie reassured him as she kissed my cheek goodbye and hugged Fang's torso quickly. Arian had already run outside as well so she grabbed Sierra's little hand and lead the partial vampire outside towards the boys.

We spent the rest of the day talking with the Crew until we got an urgant call from Carlisle.


	8. Bloody Murder

Chapter Eight

Carlisle's POV

I picked up the phone the moment I knew what was happening.

Ella had come in for her bi-weekly checkups leading up to the baby's birth like she had been doing for the past month.

Everyone besides Ella had already assumed that the second fetus wasn't going to make it, so they all decided that we were only going to focus on the soon to be arriving baby boy. The second fetus was still growing though because everyone found it too inhuman to abort it. He or she was at an undetermined stage since everyone refused to let me examine it now that we had deemed it un-birthable.

Ella was much farther along than expected, even with the little amount of time she had been spending with the rest of the Cullens. Other than myself, she was only allowed to be visited by Nessie's family since they had hardly any vampire in them anyways. Apparently, that wasn't enough of a ban. The shape-shifter boy was growing at an alarming rate and today was the day to calculate just how varied the new due date was going to be from the original calculations.

"Have you guys decided on a name for sure?" I asked Collin while Ella was in the bathroom changing into a hospital type gown. He wasn't comfortable with her being in so little clothing around me, even though I'm a doctor and it is my job, but it is easier for Ella to wear the gown during her checkups.

"We like Alejandro Adan." Collin said with a grin. "It means 'defender of the people of the earth' which is what he will do as a werewolf. She thought it was a nice tribute since it literally means what he will be and she's Hispanic after all."

"Is she still considering names for the...other one?" I asked quietly, knowing it was a sore subject for him to talk about the baby who's future was already nonexistant. He nodded, not meeting my eyes.

"Esperanza Belinda which means 'beautiful hope', for a girl and Ezequiel Guillermo or 'God will strengthen strong-willed Warrior', for a boy." He admitted. "She is determined that it will survive and earn one of those names."

The sound of waddling footsteps broke us from our discussion as Ella entered the room. Collin helped her up to the examining table where she swung her feet the best she could to get more comfortable.

"How are you feeling this morning, Ella?" I asked like usual, going to my charts to take notes.

"I'm doing alright. I can't complain." Ella responded, glancing at her husband Collin with a hesitant look in her eyes. She was such a sweet girl but I knew she was not being completely honest, so I asked Collin to step outside for a moment so I could talk with Ella alone.

"And leave a vampire alone with my wife and unborn son? I don't think so!" Collin growled defensively, his natural werewolf tendencies showing.

"Please, sweetie? I'd like a cup of water, if it isn't too much trouble..." Ella said sweetly. It was obvious from her tone that she knew how to get what she wanted. And Collin was the good impriter that did whatever she wanted.

"I'll be right back." Collin said with a nod. He placed a kiss on her forehead and one on her stomach before he left the room. I could hear his footsteps all the way down the stairs with my sensitive hearing but knew that my wife would stop him to chat in the kitchen so we had a few minutes to talk freely.

"Tell me now, how are you really feeling this morning?" I asked, trying not to pry but knowing there was no time to waste.

"I've had more morning sickness like you predicted, but that isn't really the problem." She said, taking a deep breath. I waited for her to say more, but she didn't. Instead, I could physically see her tense up, bitting her lip so that she almost bled and closing her eyes as tight as she could, for a good minute and a half.

When she finally looked back up, I had a pretty good idea as to what was going on.

"Ella, how long have the contractions been going on?" I asked knowingly.

But instead of an answer, what I got was a bloody murder scream that rivaled any leading lady in any horror film. I let her grab my hand to squeeze and she did, with all her might. If I had been human, it would have broken bones.

Collin came barreling up the stairs, the cup of water left abandoned and shattered in the kitchen as he took off in a haste to protect his imprint from whatever dangers his imagination could come up with.

"What did you do to her!" Collin growled as he forced my hand out of Ella's grip and took my place by her side.

"Your wife is in labor, Mr. Harlen." I informed him. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to get Edward and Esme up here to help assist me."

"Ca-call Max." Ella whimpered when her latest contraction ended.

"I will. Don't you worry about anything." I commented. "You are in good hands."

_Edward, get Esme. This delivery is happening soon. _I thought to my son._ Tell the others so they can leave and not be around the blood. This could get messy._

I picked up my phone next, checking to make sure Ella was completely through with her contraction first, and dialed Max's number.

"Yes, Max? It's Carlisle." I said calmly. "Ella wanted me to inform you that you are going to be an aunt soon. She's just gone into labor."

"I'll be right there." Max replied frantically. I could hear her on the other end of the line shouting at who I assumed was Fang, "Keep the kids occupied. Ella's having the baby!"


	9. Waiting

Chapter Nine

Fang's POV

I tried to keep the kids out of the house. Really I did. But the second Max shouted about Ella going into labor, everyone came rushing in from outside.

"Is it true? Is Aunt Ella having the babies?" Annie asked calmly. She was the only one who ever referred to Ella as having twins (other than Ella herself, of course).

Don't ask me why though. The girl just kept swearing that she was going to have a niece and a nephew soon. (Not that Carlisle had actually specicified on the second fetus's gender.) I can only assume that she means that Ella will get pregnant again soon. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking.

I nodded, kissing Max fiercly on the lips before she ran over to the Main House. "Um, yeah, Ella's in labor now." I said lamely. Nudge and Nuala giggled identically at me, then turned to grin at each other.

"When can we go see them?" Annie asked.

"Well, the baby won't be born for a couple of hours, I'm assuming." Two-Two said logically. "Why don't you guys go play some more? Kirby and I will be out there in a minute."

But the kids weren't listening. Arian and Jayden were running around the room, Kirrim started crying, and Sierra kept flapping her little wings disruptively as she dodged Annie's outstretched arms. This caused Annie to start yelling angrily at Sierra to "behave" and "just settle down already."

"I'm gonna be a cousin! I'm gonna be a cousin!" Arian yelled at the top of his lungs. More chaios was added when two year old Jayden joined in. He was only excited because my little Arian was, but that didn't stop him from joining in on the celebrating. He kept repeating what Arian said, causing there to be an echo of everything.

It was hard to settle the little kids down, though Denver did quiet Kirrim after a few minutes. She couldn't care less and only seemed to want to be held, like most eight months old do.

Suddenly, if by magic, the whole room quieted. Arian and Annie both glanced up at the door at the exact same time, all past activites forgotten. Jayden, having no idea what was going on, quieted down once his partner was no longer chanting and Sierra gave up on the "game" once Annie wasn't "playing" anymore.

Serenity went to open the door. Though no one had knocked yet, we all knew that the Cullen-Blacks were here. Annie and Arian _knew_ whenever Will or Allie was near and judging by the looks on their faces, the pair was definitatly on the other side of the door.

Sure enough, Jacob and Nessie entered the living room a few seconds later, followed by Emma, Allison, and Will. I didn't see Bex anywhere, but I knew she couldn't be far behind.

"I hope you don't mind we stopped by." Nessie said appologetically. "Edward called to tell us about Ella, and since we aren't allowed at the Main House when there is a high possibility of blood, well..."

"Besides, _they," _Emma said with an eyeroll and a distinct glare at her younger siblings, "wouldn't shut up about seeing their imprints." She grumbled.

I really felt sorry for Emma Roseme. Though she was, by human male standards, the prettiest of the Black daughters, with her straight bronze hair, pale complexion, and emrald green eyes that knew all too much the pain of heartbreak, she also was the only one who seemed destined to never be happy. But I can't speak too soon. She is only thirteen (technically five) after all. Plus she has the vampire gene, and not the phasing one, as a disadvantage.

"Oh, it's no problem, really." Two-Two said, welcoming the Black family into her home. Will and Allie didn't waste any time; they were by their imprints (aka, my children) within miliseconds.

"William Anthony Carl Black." Annie said formally when her imprinter came to stand beside her. It was this weird thing she's started doing; calling everyone, mostly Will, by their full names.

Will didn't seem to mind. His dark eyes seemed to light up when she said it, so he decided to play as well. "Anastasia Ride." She giggled at that, grabbing his hand playfully and tugging his arm in the direction of the play room. I could see their brown/bronze heads right up until they turned the corner down the hallway. If they had been older, I would have been worried about my daughter alone with a boy (let alone her imprint); but since they were eight and nine, I thought it was cute.

Allie bounded over to AJ like a little kid instead of the nineteen year old she was. Her curly black ringlets were flying all over the place as she picked up her fourteen year younger imprint. She kissed the top of his blonde-brown curls in greeting, but otherwise just kept him on her hip as her warm brown eyes searched the room.

"Where's Max?" Allie asked curiously.

"She went to be with Ella." I said quietly, already missing my wife's company. Being around the imprints for any long period of time did that to me.

"Would you mind keeping an eye on the two of them?" Nessie asked, gesturing towards the playroom.

Allie nodded and turned to bring Arian in there, when he pulled her hair lightly. "What is it, Ian?" She asked, using the nickname that she had made for him. Some stupid imprint rule, it seems.

"I'm gonna be a cousin." He whispered adorably, his dark brown eyes looking back at me for confirmation.

"Yes, yes you are." Allison said with a huge grin while I nodded to my son.

Jayden seemed to notice that his partner in crime was leaving, so he followed behind Allie quietly.

That left Sierra, who was asleep in Iggy's arms, and Kirrim, who was happily sucking on a bottle on Denver's lap, in the room. The two fathers were content with the responsibility while their identical counterparts chatted quietly on the loveseat.

It was strange to think that Iggy and Denver really made all the difference when it came to their completely unique children. You would think that since both of the children essentially had the same mother (because of being clones), that they would look more alike. But no. Sierra had dull mocha skin that shimmers in the light, blue eyes, and brown hair with random blonde mixed in. Karrim, on the other hand, had a dark tan skin tone, black frizzy hair, and brown eyes. Both girls, however, did have Nudge/Nuala's tawny wings.

Now it was just the grown-ups...and Kirby and Two-Two.

"I'm a grown up too." Angel's double complained, though she had a teasing tone to her voice.

Half an hour later, when I was just about to head over to the Main House to check on Ella and see how Max was doing, Bex and Gazzy snuck through the back door of Crew Headquarters.

"Rebecca Sarah Black, where have you been?" Jacob half-growled. "And you, Mr.," He full-out growled at my youngest flock brother, "should know better than to listen to what she says."

The darker skinned version of Nessie blushed, but didn't answer. Gazzy, on the other hand, looked like he was about to get sick. "I...I'm sorry..." He managed to squeak out before I walked out the door.

I scowled at the two of them, but didn't bother to stop and hear the rest of their excuse. I had bigger things to worry about. Like how my future nephew was doing, and especially, how Ella was holding up.

I spotted Esme on my way into the Main House.

"Where is everybody?" I asked politely. It was hard to be anything but polite to a vampire as sweet as Esme.

"Alice took Jasper on a hunting trip and Rosalie and Emmett decided to tag along since Rose wants to be near the new baby as much as possible." Esme explained. "But I know that's not what you want to know." She said with a teasing smile. "Your Max is usptairs with Bella, Carlisle, Edward, Collin, and Ella. Second floor, first door on the left."

"Thank you." I replied as I took the stairs two at a time. When I found the right room, I could hear chaios inside. Ella was moaning and yelling and generally being what I assume a human in labor would act like. Collin was reassuring her and complimenting her like the good imprinter he was. Bella, Edward, and Carlisle were coardinating with each other about what was happening. From the sounds of it, it didn't sound like good news.


	10. The Delivery

Chapter Ten

Edward's POV

Everything was going normal with Ella's delivery. Or as normal as a woman having a werewolf baby and a not-coming-to-term human baby can be.

Collin was doing great with the whole "keep the woman happy" part and Max was by Ella's side for moral support. Though, in her mind, Max honestly didn't want to be here when the too-small baby was going to have to have its embillical cord cut and force it to die. That would be hard on any new aunt. The person I felt sorry for, though, was Ella. She was still hopeful about the second baby's chances.

"You're doing good, Ella. Keep it up." Carlisle praised. The glare Ella shot him though was far from accepting. Her dark hair was sticking to her face as she breathed harshly like the exercises taught her.

"No veo por qué no lo puedes mantener." Ella complained half-sarcastically in between heavy panting. She was dialating quickly and it wouldn't be long before she had to push. **(AN: "I don't see why you don't 'keep it up.'")**

Carlisle ignored her jab though and continued to monitor her breathing.

"I love you, Ells. You're doing great." Collin whispered reassuringly. She half-smiled at her wolf. Though there was still tension in her eyes, she seemed to have relaxed a little. Ah, the powers of imprinting.

"Okay," I announced, glancing at Ella and motioning Max and Collin to get ready, "get ready for a big push; this baby is ready to come out."

"You can hear him?" Collin asked, marvaled.

"Just barely." I said frightenedly.

It was strange. With Renesme, and all of the other babies born in the Cullen house over the years, Angel and I had always been able to hear the baby's thoughts for months before delivery. Typically, a baby could form thoughts (usually general pictures and a few familiar phrases that it overheard) at about three months.

Alejandro, as Ella and Collin decided to name baby one, had a distant mind. It reminded me sort of like Charlie's mind; gaurded and quiet.

I had yet to pick up anything from the second baby, which didn't make me feel good about its chances of survival once it was 'birthed' in a few minutes.

"I'm ready. Yo te amo mis bebés pequeños." Ella announced, rubbing her tummy to signify to her children that it was almost time to come meet her. **(AN: "I love you little babies.")**

Just as she was taking a few more deep breaths, she suddenly yelled. "WAIT!"

Everyone focused on Ella, even Fang who just arrived at the door, as they waited for what she had to say.

"Ella, sweetie, what is it?" Collin asked.

She ignored him and instead stared at my father. "Carlisle, promise me you'll do everything you can."

"I-" Carlisle started to answer, but Ella cut him off.

"No. I mean, promise me that you will do everything you can to save baby two. I just want him or her to have the same fighting chance as Alejandro has." Ella said sternly.

"Significa el mundo para mí. Necesito que me prometas." She said, switching to her native tongue as another contraction came. **(AN: "It means the world to me. I need you to promise me.")**

"You have my word, Mrs. Harlen." Carlisle said honestly. And his thoughts reflected that oath.

"Okay, are you ready now?" My beautiful Bella asked.

Ella nodded, picking up her breathing to the regimented pace she had practiced, and her thoughts focused on pushing both of her children into this world safely. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!" She screamed, squeezing Collin's hand with all her might.

"Estúpido hombre lobo bebé con la fuerza estúpida hombre lobo." She muttered and I heard a few bones crack in Collin's hands as Ella cursed everyone and everything, but I knew Carlisle or I wouldn't have a chance to reset it before she had another contraction. **(AN: "Stupid werewolf baby with stupid werewolf strength.")**

Within two minutes, Alejandro Adan Harlen was born. He was something beautiful, though he was definately no Renesme. He had Collin's dark skintone and deep brown hair color, but Ella's teasing smile and her playful hazel eyes.

From the look on Collin's face when he caught a glimpse of his newborn son, I knew that he felt the same way towards Alejandro that I felt towards my precious little girl; which was really hard to do considering how great my love for Nessie is.

"Seven pounds, nine ounces." Bella announced. "He looks perfectly healthy, Ella. You should be proud."

Ella rested her head against the pillow, physically exausted from delivering her son, while Max cooled her off with wet handtowels and ice chips. Collin was caressing her face and trying to get glimpses of his son while Bella cleaned Alejandro off and prepared him to formally meet his family.

"You need to get ready to push again." Carlisle advised. "Ready or not, this next baby has to come out as well."

Ella nodded, the tears rolling down her cheeks going unnoticed by no one, as she closed her eyes and focused once again on delivering a baby.

"...so help me COLLIN! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! ¿Por qué me hicistes esto a mí, Collin? _Usted_ me hizo estar tan dolorida!"She screamed in pain; this time more dramatic than the last time. Though it was typical for the second twin's birth to be more painful, this extreme had me worried. **(AN: "Why did you do this to me, Collin? _You_ made me this pained!")**

Twenty minutes later, after much, much deliberation and effort from Ella, the second baby was born.

It was a tiny, but beautiful, little girl. She was a mere four pounds, five ounces, and estimated to be only six months to term. She would have to be put on a breathing machine and monitored for most of her infancy, if not her whole life.

This, despite all the obstacles and limitations, was Esperanza Belinda Harlen. A very 'beautiful hope' indeed.

She was so much like Ella it was scary, but I could definitely see Collin in her as well. Esperanza had Ella's thick black hair, a mixture of Hispanic and russett Quillite skin pigmentation, Ella's (and Alejandro's) playful hazel eyes, and Collin's devious grin. (Though that last one was just a guess since she was frowning, not smiling; but the mouth shape was definitely the same.)

"Ella, she's...she's beautiful." I admitted, glancing over at the teeny tiny infant as my Bella cleansed the child alongside her brother.

But Ella wasn't listening. She was unresponsive and had a blank stare when Collin tried to stir her. In truth, she wasn't even conscious. Delivering Esperanza had sent her body into shock and her vital organs seemed to be shutting down. If Carlisle didn't revive her soon, it would be too late.

* * *

**AN: *sung dramatically* Dun, dun, duuuuun! Will Ella survive through the night? Can Collin go on without her? And what will happen to little Esperanza****? Read and Review to find out :) **

**-sidenote: sorry if any of the Spanish is translated incorrectly; but thank you to my lovely reviewer MaximumX777 for helping me correct it :)**


	11. Day at the Beach

Chapter Eleven

Angel's POV

We were on our way back to the Main House when Alice called me to inform everyone that Ella had delivered Alejandro, and a very underweight daughter Collin named Esperanza. Since Ella was still unconscious, Carlislewas advising everyone stayed away so not to startle her any farther. Alice suggested we go to Crew Headquarters or hang out in La Push. Since I was already with Seth, we decided to head to First Beach.

'Ready?' I sent telepathically to my Seth. Though he was twenty-five and I was only sixteen, I was in love with him. He was beautiful in wolf form when he ran, so instead of driving to First Beach, he phased and ran under me. I had a perfect view of him while I flew gracefully in the sky above him.

'She looks so beautiful in the sky, like my own personal angel. No wonder they call her Angel...hey, Ange?' Seth thought to me as I was listening to his thoughts. 'Who's up at the beach already?'

I scanned the approaching white sand and smiled. "Just a couple of wolves." I said teasingly.

Of the eight wolves younger than my Seth, only a few of them had stayed in La Push. Collin, Brady, and Scotty were off in community college nearby, Dylan was finishing up his junior year at his mom's house in the Talinque Reservation a few miles away.

That left eighteen year olds Tobias and David, and twenty year old twins Jeremiah and Joshua. All four were on the beach, along with a couple of the local girls.

'You're gonna have to phase back before we get to the beach.' I announced, swooping downwards to ruffle his fur teasingly. 'Wouldn't want them to see my wings either.'

When Seth had phased back and clothed himself, I ran up to him and pulled his lips to mine possessively. "I missed you." I said childishly, giggling as he nodded against my lips. I pushed him forcefully against the tree behind him and pushed myself closer to him. We were literally no more than a milicentimeter apart now. I could feel his heart beating beneath his t-shirt.

"We...really...should go." Seth said in between kisses. I shook my head stubbornly and bit his bottom lip instead. He moaned quietly and recaptured my lips with his.

I rarely got any time alone with him; especially considering how many people lived at the Main House with me. And it wasn't any less crowded at Seth's house considering it had become the new hangout place for all the wolves because most wolves didn't like the smell of the Cullen-Black house.

Just as my tongue controlled dominance over Seth's, someone interrupted us with a fake cough.

"Jeez, guys, I can hear you all the way from the beach." David complained. "Why don't you guys separate for a few minutes and come meet Isabelle?" He said with a huge grin.

"Isabelle?" Seth whispered. "I haven't heard anything about a girlfriend. Usually the pack mind informs me of any new relationships."

I giggled. Silly naive boy. He seems to have forgotten that the wolves other than Jake, Leah, and Embry don't phase that often _in order _to keep their secrets secret. Or at least that's what I usually got from their minds.

We approached the beach as a ragtag team. The second David's feet hit the sand, he was running towards the pale blonde amounst all of the dark skinned Quillite girls.

"Davey!" The blonde shouted, too excited to wait any longer. Her bright blue eyes were glimmering with excitement and youth.

"Izzy!" David replied just as excited.

"You just saw him, like, a minute ago." The taller of the three Quillite girls complained. I could tell by her accent that she was only half native. "How come you don't ever get excited to see your best friend?"

"Yeah, so? He's my boyfriend." Isabelle said sarcastically. "You might be my best friend, Elsie, but I'll always be more excited to see him than you." David blushed at this, but continued to try and look macho in front of the other wolves.

'Isabelle is David's imprint.' I thought to my Seth smoothly, not looking away from the new couple as I did so.

"Let me introduce everybody." Joshua, the more responsible, friendly twin, said. "This is Isabelle Sparkle, Elsie Smith," He pointed at the two girls with little intrest; he gestured to the short, similarly looking girl next. "and that's Olivia Morico."

"And, of course, you already know Carmen Llama, my...um, girlfriend." Josh said, pointing at his imprint with a grin. I had met her once at a bonfire that Seth took me to a few months ago. She was really nice, but a little shy so I didn't know very much about her.

It was so cute to see that Josh hadn't told her about imprinting yet. Usually a wolf would reveal himself as what he truly was and explain to them all about imprinting, but Josh wasn't like that. He wanted Carmen to love him naturally, not just because she thought she had to. It was admirerable, though futile. Carmen already loved him, imprint or not. And she didn't even mind the whole 'changing into a giant wolf' thing either. Her friends, of course, didn't know that fact though.

"So are you planning on going to the bonfire tomorrow?" Carmen asked politely. She knew that Seth and I were an item, even if we didn't publicly say it to them. Then again, she had met us before.

"It depends on how Ella and the babies are doing." I answered honestly.

"Ella delivered already? Isn't that too soon?" Tobias asked worriedly. He had bonded quick with Ella when she first arrived a few years ago. It was an unlikely friendship just like Seth and Bella's.

'I sure hope that Ella and the babies are fine.' He thought nervously. 'Maybe I should go see her.'

"She can't have any guests right now." I said in response to his thoughts.

"That's why we're here instead of the Cullen house." Seth said with a laugh.

'Cullen? Now why does that name sound familiar?' Olivia thought. "Isn't one of the Cullens a doctor or something?" She asked, her mind focusing on a memory with Carlisle treating her little brother for chicken pox. Only the memory changed into more of a fantasy, starring her and my sort of grandfather figure. Ew, gross.

"Yes." Josh answered with a half glare at Olivia. He apparently knew all about her raging hormones. She had hit on him more times than he liked to remember; especially now that he was with Carmen forever.

"I'm bored, Iz." Elsie said with a sigh. "Can we head back to my house or what?" She asked impatiently.

"I'm hanging out with David right now." She said sternly. This girl definitely had some spunk and no problem voicing her opinions. David, of course, was beaming at the compliment. "You can leave if you want."

Elsie glanced at Olivia for help, but the short Quillite was still fantasizing about Carlisle. "Any takers?" Elsie asked almost desperately.

Jeremiah nodded, happy to get away from the happy imprinted couples. His mind was filled with loneliness and hatrid towards his twin for getting the 'lucky gene.' Kind of like Leah assuming she can't produce children. It was a way for them to blame genetics instead of taking things as they were and trying to improve them.

The sad part was, Jeremiah had been in all of Carmen's classes in high school and had developed a crush on his brother's imprint. On the day of his big History Exam, Jeremiah was sick so he begged his brother to step in. Since they were identical, minus a cowlick that Josh didn't have, the teacher didn't notice the difference. But Carmen did. One look at her, and Joshua was in love. And Jeremiah was out of luck with his dream girl. That was almost six months ago, and Jeremiah was still bitter.

Now, all Jeremiah cared about was getting Carmen out of his head before Josh found out. It was wolf code to leave an imprint alone, but Carmen was special. So Jeremiah planned to let Elsie, or anyone who would help him, get his mind off of the girl he was in love with.

"I'll come too." Olivia added when she saw who would be left here. Though she liked David, she knew he was taken and slut or not, she had respect for Isabelle...sort of. Besides, she didn't want to be paired up with Tobias. 'One of the twins was better than that dork any day.' She thought conceitedly.

'Oh, I can have fun with these two.' Jeremiah thought with a grin. And I knew he would. It almost made me sad how he was wasting his time trying to forget Carmen when he could be out looking for his own imprint. So far, almost every wolf had found his mate; so why should he be any different?

*Take what you want! Steal my pride! Fill me up or cut me down to size!...* My phone vibrated as my ringtone went off. I recognized the tone as Nudge's new favorite song 'Strip Me' by Natasha Bedingfield. She had this crazy ability to change my ringtones when I wasn't looking. Actually, she did it to all the Flock.

I picked up when the chorus repeated. "Hello?" I asked. "Nudge, you gotta quit chaning my ringtones." I said half serious. I think my giggle at the end cancelled out any sternness though.

"Do you not like it?" She asked with a laugh. "I changed Iggy's for when I call to 'Love like Woe' by The Ready Set."

"You did what?" I heard a surprised Iggy ask in the background.

"Nothing, baby." She replied, sounding far off. "I was just..."

"Nudge, why'd you call me?" I asked, trying to get her focused. My Seth smiled at my slightly irritated expression. He was so cute when he did that; seriously, how did I get this lucky?

"Oh, Max just wanted to check on all the Flock. She's been freaking out since Carlisle kicked her out of the delivery room." Nudge said quickly.

"I heard that!" Max's voice said, sounding dangerously close to Nudge's phone.

"Hey, Angel, I gotta go." Nudge said quickly. "When are you coming back?"

"We'll head over there in a minute." I replied. She sighed in relief before hanging up.

"You guys wanna come?" I asked Josh, David, Tobias, Isabelle, and Carmen.

Carmen's eyes got wide, but she didn't answer. I could tell from her thoughts that she now believed the local legands about vampires due to her knowledge of another mythical creature that she had actually seen with her own two eyes. Something about the first time a wolf phases in front of their imprint always stays with them. I also knew, thanks to her thoughts, that she thought I was a vampire. I wasn't about to correct her though. It was better for her to guess wrong than think I was some mutant freak with wings.

Isabelle, on the other hand, didn't know anything about the legands. David was planning on telling her about his mythical side at the bonfire tomorrow. It was different with her because she wasn't Quillite at all. She was only allowed to attend school here because her father owned two of the major fishing ports in La Push.

'Isabelle can't come.' I thought to David with regret. 'There are secrets bigger than yours that would be revealed and Max would kill me.'

I saw him nod slightly. "Izzy, why don't we go try and find your friends? I'm sure Carmen would be bored hanging with a bunch of people neither of you know." David said reasonably.

She agreed reluctantly and sealed the fate of the other couple. The four of them headed back to the towns, leaving Tobias with us.

"You really want to go, don't you?" Seth joked. "You do know you won't be able to see Ella or the babies yet, right? It will be boring."

"I don't care." Tobias replied. 'Maybe she'll be better by then.' He thought quietly, trying to hide it from me.

If only he knew.

* * *

**AN: MAJOR FORESHADOWING! :) But other than that, what do you think of my new characters and developed wolves? Review please! :) **


	12. Secrets

Chapter Twelve

Fang's POV

"Shouldn't Ella be okay by now?" Nudge asked worriedly. It had taken all day, but Ella finally delivered her children; a healthy werewolf boy and an underweight human girl, according to Esme when she called.

The room was suddenly filled with an awkward silence. Everyone had been informed of Ella and Esperanza's conditions half an hour ago so it seemed a little soon to talk about. Nudge looked guilty for her question, but I'd take that over her blabbering to fill the silence any day. Her clone, on the other hand, had yet to master the art of silence.

"Isn't it cute that she picked your name, sorta, for her son?" Nuala asked, looking identical to my sister of sorts with the smile plastered on her face. She kept the rambling skills though. I kinda missed it with Nudge.

"I mean, your real name is Alexander and Alejandro is sort of like a brother name to it, don't you think? Hey, where is your brother, Fang? Shouldn't Nickolas be back by now?" She asked in a blur of words. "I mean, he left six months ago to do the takedowns, or whatever it was that he left for, and should be home by now, huh?"

I stared straight ahead, not bothering to answer her. I knew her scatter-brained mind would forget the entire conversation in a minute. I, however, wouldn't be able to get it out of my mind for the next few days. My twin, Nick Ravenwood, had decided to go off in search of any remaining School facilities.

Since we had taken in the Crew, he had made it his mission to find any other secret, hidden facilities around the country. He went on a new excersion every three months, but each time he had come back without any other experiments or even a hint of where another facility might be.

The Flock offered to help him in the search, but he claimed that he didn't want us to be separated from our families and since he had none, he didn't mind going alone. That comment always hurt every time he brought up an upcoming trip. I was his freaking twin for goodness sake! But I guess what the School did to him after I killed him messed with his sense of loyalty to me. Not that I can say I'd be different if he had been the one to kill me.

Max walked into the Crew Headquarters, startling me from my previous thoughts like only Max could do. I could _feel _her distress over her sister's health. It was weird that after all the years, I could still sense her feelings sometimes and, if mine were strong enough, she could "feel" mine too. We're not sure why Nessie biting me did this to us, but I have to admit that it's helpful at times.

"Why don't we give them some privacy." Iggy said, trying to usher the remaining Flock and Crew members into the other room.

"No, it's alright." Max said weakly. Even this devastated, she was radiant. God, I loved her. Her warm brown eyes snapped up to look at mine and she half-smiled. "I needed that." She mouthed, knowing that I'd be able to know she was talking about my emotion transfer.

"So how are they?" Serenity asked quietly, like she said everything else.

"Ella isn't doing too hot." Max said, trying to sound strong even though her emotions betrayed her. Always the strong leader, even with something this huge looming over her head. "Alejandro is phasing already, though so that's a good thing, I guess." She looked reluctant to add the next part. "Esperanza isn't doing well either. She's been placed on a breathing machine and will probably stay on it for most of her life."

"Don't think so negatively, Mommy." Annie said, appearing out of nowhere. I thought she was in the playroom with Will, Allie, Arian, and Jayden.

"She was, until she heard Max arrive." Two-Two, Angel's clone, said, reading my mind. "She has Gremlin's hearing, remember?" She said, reminding me that Anastasia was technically not my daughter.

Max frowned at this comment too. Though Max II and a random experiment had created Annie, she was, and had been, our daughter for the last five and a half years. I didn't like being reminded that she wasn't fully ours. 'Sorry, Fang.' Two-Two apologized quietly in my head.

'It's okay.' I thought to her. 'Just stay out of my head, alright?' She nodded, happy that the other children were coming in here now so there was somewhat of a distraction.

It was strange to think of how many times I had told her double this. Luckily, Angel seemed to have learned her lesson over the years. Now the only mind she worried about was Seth's and that was only because she was completely in love with her imprinter.

"When is Angel due back?" Nudge asked, looking around the room for the only missing Flock member. Though she was now a mother and wife, Nudge still loved Angel like the best friend/sister she had always been.

"She'll be here soon, I promise." Iggy said gently, sensing his wife's unease. He kissed her cheek soothingly as he adjusted Sierra on his lap so the little girl could sleep more comfortably.

"Like Seth could stay away from all this drama." Nessie teased lightly, though there was still sadness in her eyes.

Ella was like a part of her family as well since Collin was one of the few wolves that still lived at La Push and was fed by the Blacks whenever he was patrolling. If Ella didn't get better soon, her imprinter would go crazy and try to follow her in to the light...or so the Quillite Legands tell us.

"All I want is to go see her for a few minutes, is that too much to ask?" A loud unfamiliar voice said from outside the back door. The Flock and Crew members tensed up and prepared for a fight, but the Blacks didn't seem phased.

I heard a familiar laugh in response and smiled inside my head.

'Door's unlocked.' I told Angel as they reached the back patio.

Angel, Seth, and who I assumed was one of the other wolves came into the living room. It was now getting kind of crowded, but no one other than myself seemed to mind. I had always been the most claustrophobic of the Flock members after all.

"Tobias, you can't see Ella if I can't. And since Alice said the Main House was off limits, that means that no one is going." Angel said stubbornly, though still with a smile on her face. She looked like she was in on a big secret, but her expression changed as soon as I starting thinking about it. She looked at me strangely, so I thought, 'What are you hiding, Ange?'

"It's nothing." Angel said cryptically, though the devilish grin was back.

* * *

**AN: Sorry, this was sort of a filler. We'll get back to the actual plot next chapter, but I had to get us there first. Review if you think you know what's going to happen next. (Hint: it's been foreshadowed for a few chapters...)**


	13. Bearer of Bad News

Chapter Thirteen

Annie's POV (This is a first, so bare with me.)

Mommy kept making a fuss over how sick Esperanza, one of Auntie Ella's new babies, was but I knew they would be okay. I knew this for a fact and I would swear on my imprinter's life that it was the truth. I had seen it, you see.

I have a unique gift that I've kept hidden from as many family members as possible; not even Max and Fang knew and they were my parents for crying out loud. Angel knew about it because she was better at breaking through mind berriers than Two-Two or even Edward. My Will knew, but that was because I couldn't keep a secret from him (and I wouldn't want to anyways). Alice was the only one who even guessed at what I could do, and that was only because two weeks ago she caught me using my power.

_Flashback_

_I was standing in the Ride Room, as the bedroom that Max and Fang picked out for our minature family Flock is called, bored out of my mind when I felt a headache coming on. Uh-oh. _

_See, my headaches are sort of like Max's (and my birth mother, Max II's) brain explosion headaches, only completely different at the same time. Whereas they get pictures of things that the School wanted them to see in order to A) save the world or B) track the Flock, my headaches lead to something much, much different. It always starts the same, a dull pain in the back of my eyes; then it spreads forwards on to my forehead until it finally envelopes my whole head in an unbearable pain. _

_Then the real fun begins. As much as I hate the pain of the headaches, if I didn't have them, I wouldn't get to use my power. And that would kill me. _

_Alice walked in on me just as I was about to pass out. I knew she would call for help if I didn't stop her so a second before I lost consciousness, I looked her straight in the eye and said, "vision." _

_That instantly calmed her nerves, I could tell. And when I came to later, she was by my side, looking down at me hopefully. _

_"So, what did you see?" She asked excitedly. "How often do you get visions? Did that hurt? Have you always gotten visions or is this your first one?"_

_I looked up at her from my innocent eight year old eyes and smiled weakly. I was trying to get my body back to normal. My throat was burning, my lungs were working in overdrive, and my heart was beating like crazy, but I was used to this. _

_"Annie, speak to me." Alice said at last when I made no attempt to answer her questions. _

_I held up my pointer finger in a 'wait a second' motion and the dark haired pixie nodded half-impatiently. I could tell that she was used to getting her way quickly or already knowing what was going to happen due to a vision (which she could barely see wolves or experiments in anymore so she was blind 70% of the time now) and this was bugging her to not be in on the loop._

_When my breathing steadied and the room stopped spinning, I looked up at her again. This time, I forced my stiff voice to speak. "I saw them." I said quietly, half in awe, half scared. _

_"Saw who? The Volturi? The School?" Alice said with panic in her high soprano voice, but I just shook my head. _

_"I need to go lie down." I said weakly, ignoring her questions. Using my power always drained me like nothing else. _

_"Just tell me what you saw." Alice said desperately. I knew it had been a while since she had had an important vision since we came to live with the Cullens, but I just didn't have the energy to explain how my power worked or what I saw. _

_"I saw my parents." I lied, hoping she would just think I was tired or sick and making the whole vision thing up. _

_She bought it though and that was the last Alice asked about my so-called vision. When I woke up from my nap, Max was checking my temperature and Angel was on the other side of the room monitoring my thoughts with a half grin. 'I know you have a power.' She thought to me smugly, but I ignored her. _

_"You feeling okay, sweetie?" Mommy asked gently. It was hard to picture her as the kick-butt, back-talking teenager who took down the School and saved the world when she was talking to me or Arian, or even Angel, her "baby," for that matter. _

_"I was just tired, Mommy. Sorry I lied to Auntie Alice." I said quietly, not sure how much she had been informed. "It's been a long week and I'm just not used to not sleeping all night." I looked away at this; I had been having nightmares about how my birth parents died for some time now and Max knew better than to bring it up. _

_"It's alright, Annie. You rest, we were all heading to La Push to visit with the Cullen-Blacks, but I can stay here if you want me to?" Mommy asked senserly. _

_"I'll be fine." I said to ease her fears. "I promise." _

_"Ella is on bedrest in the next room if you get too bored." She said with a smile as she ushered Angel out the door with her. I listened until I heard all of the cars pull out of the driveway before I made any attempt to leave the comfort of my warm twin sized bed. But I needed to talk to Ella, and soon. _

_I pulled my throw blanket on the ground behind me as I made my way to the room next door. Sure enough, Ella was propped up in bed, her round pregnant stomach unable to be hidden beneath the blankets she was bundled in. _

_"Hey, Auntie Ella." I said, standing in her doorway awkwardly. _

_"Come on in here, Annie." Ella said with a big smile. Though she was stressed from being close to her delivery date, she tried not to show it as she patted the small empty space next to her on her bed. "Collin stepped out to get me some Animal Crackers and chocolate pudding, but he won't mind if you keep me company until then." She said sweetly, her eyes twitching as she winked at me climbing on her bed. "I've been craving them like nothing other."_

_"Ella...I have something to tell you." I said in a whisper, half hoping that she didn't hear me so I wouldn't have to actually tell her what I knew. _

_"Uh-oh," she teased, "this must be serious if you didn't call me 'Auntie.'" Her laughter turned to concern when she noticed the tears streaming down my face though._

_"Shhh, honey, it's okay. Whatever is wrong, it can be fixed." She said gently, reminding me of Max. _

_"No-oo it ca-an't." I blubbered into my throw blanket. "I had a vision of the babies." _

_"Babies? So I deliver them both?" Ella asked with a grin, still not understanding that something was truly wrong. "I didn't know you had visions, Annie, that's great." _

_"They're headache visions, kinda like Max's," I explained, trying to control my sobbing. "But it wasn't a good one." _

_"What happens to my babies?" Ella said, finally realizing that I was being serious. _

_"My vision started when the twins were celebrating their thirteenth birthday. A boy and a girl, who we call Alex and Hope by that time." I explained. "The Flock was there and the Cullens and all the wolves and Collin looked so proud, but he was sad too." I said in a rush of words._

_That made Ella frown. I knew from being an imprint that it didn't make us feel good when our wolves were upset or sad or anything like that. _

_I took a deep breath before I said the next part, "He was sad...because you weren't there." _

_"Where was I?" She asked, truly worried now. I could see the realization in her eyes though. _

_Collin walked through the door then and I panicked. I jumped off of Ella's bed and ran straight to my room and locked the door. I refused to come out even when the rest of my family came home. _

_End Flashback_

I just didn't have the guts to tell them what I knew and I was a coward but I don't have the guts now, either. I didn't want to tell them that I knew without a shadow of a doubt that Auntie Ella wasn't going to see her kids grow up because she would already be dead by then. She wasn't going to make it through the next day.


	14. Inside Thoughts

(Author's Note: Takes place during chapter six and forward.)

Chapter Fourteen

Ella's POV

My conversation with Annie yesterday had me thinking. According to her vision, I would be dead after delivering the twins who would survive. But according to Alice this morning, my second baby (who I now know will be a girl named Hope) won't survive the process at all. Neither future seemed like a good plan to me.

But which psychic was in the wrong? Though Alice had never been wrong, I knew that she sometimes didn't get the whole future. And since this is the first time I had heard of Annie having abilities, I didn't know how good her future sensing judgment was either.

All I know was that I had to prepare for either future nonetheless. There was no way that I was leaving my Collin to deal with all of this whether I was here or not.

"Hey, babe, you need anything from the store?" Collin asked gently, his eyes watching me carefully as I laid on our new bed on the top floor ofthe Main House. We had moved in here pretty much as soon as Carlisle found out about my condition. It had been hard for Collin to be away from the Pack, minus Jake of course, and even harder to be around all of these vampires all the time. Though, most of the vampires were restricted from being in too close of proximity of my growing little boy since it was dangerous for him to keep growing this quickly so it wasn't like he had to smell that many Cullens anyways.

"Could you get me some more candy?" I asked with a shy blush. I was craving it like nothing else, another sure sign that I was pregnant (as if my huge belly wasn't enough of an indicator). When I was growing up, and since I had met Collin, I had only ever eaten sweets on special occasions, other than my mom's famous chocolate chip cookies of course.

"Anything for you, Ellie." My husband said with a grin and I knew that he meant it. He kissed my lips softly and made his way towards the door.

"I..." I was about to tell him about what I knew from Annie, but I chickened out when he turned back around and gave me all of his attention again. Something about that look he gave me sent butterflies in my already occupied stomach.

"I love you." I said instead, my breath hitching when he smiled widely at me and his eyes locked onto mine passionately. I knew it was the imprint part of him giving me this look, but I refused to believe that he wouldn't love me just as much if he hadn't been a werewolf.

"I love you too, Ells." Collin said, making his way back across the room so he could stroke my cheek and kiss my nose playfully. "Now if you don't stop distracting me, I'll never be able to get you your candy." He teased, kissing my lips once more in goodbye.

"I'm scared." I admitted quietly and all teasing in his expression dropped.

"You have nothing to be scared of, Carlisle said that the baby will be born in two weeks and then we can take him home." Collin tried to assure me, though he didn't as he left out the part about the second 'unknown' fetus's fate.

Hormonal tears rolled down my cheeks as I thought about the unfairness of it all. "She doesn't even get a chance, does she?" I asked angrily, referring to the little girl that Annie's vision promised me.

"You know that it isn't good to get attached." Collin said. "Edward and Carlisle both agreed that was the best way to get through this when the time comes."

"I can't help it. I have a living, breathing creature inside of me and its not fair to dismiss it because of one of Alice's visions." I sobbed. "We have to at least name it. It deserves a name! I don't care what any of them say; future or not, my children will be named, Collin." I growled, sounding almost wolf-like.

"Shh, we can. I promise we will." Collin said, mostly to calm me down. I knew it was hard for imprinters to ignore the wishes of their imprints, but I was asking for this as his wife, not his imprint. "Do you have anything in mind?"

"Esperanza, Esperanza Belinda. It means 'beautiful hope'." I said, I had done research in baby books all night after Annie came into my room with that information. "My little Hope." I mouthed and rubbed my stomach gently, knowing that she was in there.

"What about if it is a boy?" Collin asked uncomfortably.

"What about the name we were going to use until we found Alejandro?" I asked gently, not sure how he would take the name replacement. "Ezequiel Guillermo, you know 'God will strengthen strong-willed Warrior'?"

"You sure about this, El?" Collin said lightly, willing to do whatever I asked of him.

I nodded and that was the end of that.

I pulled out my baby book that I had started for the twins the moment I found out I was pregnant and started writing frantically. There was so much I wanted to say, especially if Annie was the one that got the future right. I prayed that she was wrong though; I would take Alice's vision over hers any day. I wanted to see my children grow up, even if it meant that I only got to keep one of them. Was that selfish?

* * *

~The next day~

"How are you feeling this morning, Ella?" Carlisle asked as soon as I changed into my hospital gown for my check-up.

"I'm doing alright. I can't complain." I responded automatically, glancing hesitantly at my beautiful husband. I was trying to hide how much pain I was actually in, but as usual, the good doctor saw through my charade.

When Carlisle asked Collin to leave the room, he freaked out. "And leave a vampire alone with my wife and unborn son? I don't think so!" Collin growled defensively like the werewolf he was.

"Please, sweetie? I'd like a cup of water, if it isn't too much trouble..." I said as sweetly as I could muster.

"I'll be right back." Collin said with a reluctant nod. He placed a kiss on my forehead territorially with a glare in Carlisle's direction and another, less defensive kiss on my stomach before he left the room.

"Tell me now, how are you really feeling this morning?" Dr. Cullen asked worriedly.

"I've had more morning sickness like you predicted, but that isn't really the problem." I said, taking a deep breath and bitting my lip. I closed my eyes, waiting for the pain to pass.

Like I suspected he would, Carlisle knew what was happening."Ella, how long have the contractions been going on?"

But I couldn't answer, instead, I grabbed his hand with all my might as the pain intensified and I let out a scream at the top of my lungs. I was only glad that he wasn't human or that would have hurt him.

Collin came barreling up the stairs, the cup of water left abandoned and shattered in the kitchen as he took off in a haste to protect me.

"What did you do to her!" Collin growled as he forced Carlisle's hand out of my grip and sat down next to me instead. I was welcome for the change, but it still didn't help with the contractions.

"Your wife is in labor, Mr. Harlen." He said calmly, defying my husband minorly in his tone but I knew he meant no offense. It was an ancient fued that was only naturally shown when things were stressed. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to get Edward and Esme up here to help assist me."

"Ca-call Max." I whimpered as my contraction ended. I laid my head on Collin's strong shoulder and tried not to whimper.

"I will. Don't you worry about anything. You are in good hands." Carlisle said confidently, as I heard him talk quieter into the phone.

The rest was a blur. I know that at one point Edward and Bella arrived to help with the delivery and Max was by my side like the faithful sister she was even though I could tell she was still uncomfortable because we all knew one of the three involved wasn't going to live, but the pain was in the forefront of my mind the whole time. Collin was perfect and I could hear his quiet "I love you's" the entire time. I knew I snapped more than once, but I couldn't be sure that I was lashing out in English. My mind was in a haze as I focused on my task; delivering my babies and living through it.

When Carlisle announced it was time to push, all I had to say was that I loved my little babies. I rubbed my tummy to let my children know that it was almost time to come meet me.

"WAIT! Carlisle, promise me you'll do everything you can." I said in a panick.

"I-" He started to speak, but I interupted him. "No. I mean, promise me that you will do everything you can to save baby two. I just want him or her to have the same fighting chance as Alejandro has." I said sternly, not sure if I was speaking English or Spanish. "It means the world to me. I need you to promise me."

"You have my word, Mrs. Harlen." Carlisle said honestly.

It took two minutes of pure, excrusiating pain to deliver my werewolf son, and I knew I would have to appologize to him for cussing out his stupid strength, but it was worth it. I only saw half of his face, but I knew he was beautiful. Alejandro Adan Harlen had to be. He was Collin's son after all. was born. I saw that he had Collin's dark skintone and deep brown hair color and that was enough for me.

"Seven pounds, nine ounces." Bella announced. "He looks perfectly healthy, Ella. You should be proud."

I rested my head against the pillow, physically exausted from delivering Alex, while Max cooled me off with wet handtowels and ice chips. Collin was caressing my face and trying to get glimpses of his son while Bella cleaned Alejandro off and prepared him to formally meet his family.

"You need to get ready to push again." Carlisle advised. "Ready or not, this next baby has to come out as well."

I nodded, the tears rolling down my cheeks going unnoticed by no one, but I closed my eyes and focused once again on delivering a baby. I had to get through this. I was once again caught up in the pain and I prayed that I hadn't said anything too offensive. All I know is that Collin was my target.

"It's a girl." Bella said quietly. "Four pounds, five ounces."

I caught a glimpse of Esperanza before she was taken to get cleaned; my thick black hair and a mixture of Hispanic and russett Quillite skin pigmentation.

"Ella, she's...she's beautiful." I barely heard Edward say before my body went into shock. This was it, I knew and I only hoped that Edward had heard my last thoughts.


	15. Mourning

**AN: This may get kinda sad, but this is my plot so bare with me whether you love it or not. It does get happier, so don't quit on me yet :) **

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Chapter Fifteen

Jacob's POV

The Pack had never delt with an imprint death during our time, but we all remember the stories about The Third Wife, Sayoki (the imprint who killed herself when her husband died in battle), and Chief Knokinsokin (who's imprint was murdered so he started a war until every involved, and some not involved, members of the opposite tribe were murdered as well...then he took his own life).

But this, right now with Ella, was something that was completely different than any of the legands.

All imprints are treated as equals in the Pack's eyes, so each is given the same respect and family bond as the next, but Ella was special because she was the first one we had ever lost. Most of the Pack was in mourning with Collin because of the connected bond and it was hard to think straight whenever I phase anymore.

Gabriella Louise Martinez Harlen died three days after delivering the twins. Her wake was this morning so tension is still really high. Collin is so lost without her, he was barely able to dress himself this morning. He didn't even care that Alice, a vampire, bathed and dressed him in appropriate clothing for his wife's funeral.

The twins are doing fine though. That's the only good thing about any of this.

Alejandro is nearly physically two because he has been phasing like crazy due to living with the Cullens still. Collin is planning on moving back to La Push with his parents as soon as this whole mess is over, but he has no drive to do it just yet.

Esperanza is on the breathing machine still but she's getting stronger. That's mostly due to Tobias imprinting on her though. He came to visit Ella, right before she passed on, and one look at her little girl and he was a new man. Esperanza (who Tobias calls "Essy") knows whenever he's here and her little eyes will open and she'll smile lightly. The fact that she is alive at all is still a miracle for someone who was born three months early, let alone the fact that she can smile.

Collin and the Pack aren't the only ones not dealing with Ella's death well though. Max shut herself in her room and refuses to come out unless Fang coaxes her, but even he doesn't have the patience to do that very often because he's dealing with Annie. Anastasia blames herself for her aunt's death even though Ella died of natural causes.

But on the plus side, everyone found out that Annie is a psycic as well. Since she's an experiment and mostly human, she can see everyone clearly in her visions since both the wolves, experiments, and vampires all have some human in them. This is really convinent because Alice can only partially see all of us and sometimes she gets it wrong.

The rest of the Flock and Crew don't know what to think or feel. Since the Crew had never been extremely close to Ella, they mostly kept to their house during all this chaos. Angel cries herself to sleep missing Ella and Nudge isn't much better, though she's able to stay stronger because she had Iggy and Sierra to think about. Gazzy is the only one who seems like he doesn't care, but I know it's just an act. He's Max's Little Trooper for a reason.

It's going to be hard to get back to normal after this though. Nothing has upset the La Push residents like this since the Cullen's moved back all those years ago and jump started the phasings again. This will either make us stronger or tear us all apart. All I know for sure is that as Alpha, it's my job to keep everyone together and help Collin through this as best as I can. For now, we have him on suicide watch until we're sure that his kids are enough to live for. According to legands, we as a Pack are not very hopeful.

* * *

**AN: Sorry this one is so short. And please don't hate me for killing off Ella, I had to do it :(**


	16. Black Family

**AN: This is a little out of order from last chapter, but I felt like it was needed. **

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

Bex's POV

I was in the middle of putting on my black lace knee high socks and preparing for Ella's funeral when Gazzy snuck in through my window.

"You aren't supposed to be here." I whispered with a giggle. "If my dad catches you in here agian he's going to have a cow."

"Then let him have a cow." My wonderful boyfriend said defiantly with a mischevious grin. He was dressed in a black button down shirt and black slacks, making him look adorably like Johnny Cash, only hotter.

"You're terrible." I whispered, but made no move to make him leave. Instead, I pulled up my other sock and made my way over to him. I placed a kiss on his cheek teasingly, knowing how much he wanted to give me a proper kiss instead.

"I love you." Gazzy said quietly, edging his face closer to mine.

"I love you too." I said against his lips, finally giving in to the urge to kiss him. We had only recently started saying those three magic words in the past month, but everytime we said it, I got goosebumps as if it were the first time.

My parents think I'm crazy, but I consider Gazzy my imprint even though I have no werewolf DNA considering who my real father was. (And no, I don't think about Nauhel often, only when my family points out that I'm different...which I don't like, by the way). It's not even that I'm trying to fit in with the rest of my siblings with imprints, its just that I know that the Gasman is my soul mate.

"Rebecca Sarah Black!" My father yelled from the kitchen. "This is your last chance to get some breakfast before the funeral."

"Oops, I'm in trouble now." I whispered, "go out through the window and I'll meet you at First Beach for the wake."

"I'll see you there." Gazzy said with a grin, "and I'll miss you 'til you're there."

I giggled, kissing him once more before grabbing my slip on shoes and rushing down the stairs to the dinning room. I knew that Gazzy would have flown out the window by now so I wasn't worried as I poured a bowl of Captin Crunch.

Nine year old Will pulled his chair out next to mine and frowned in disgust. "You smell like bird." He said quietly, pouring what I assumed was his second bowl of Lucky Charms. "Was Gazzy here this morning?"

I shook my head, spotted Nessie and Jake in the kitchen, and sent Will a 'please don't rat me out' look. He nodded slightly and I smiled. He had always been my favorite sibling, though the other two of the triplets were still close in my heart. Will just knew how to keep a secret when it came to seeing Gazzy; though Allie had an imprint too, she was in the responsible 'older sister' mode to Arian while Will was in the playful 'best friend/playmate' stage.

Emma rolled her eyes like the young teenager she was. "You know that Gazzy isn't allowed here without Momma's permission." She said logically, though with a little sniff of her nose, she could smell that I had lied.

"That's right, Em." Jake said as he brought in a huge plateful of bacon. Allie scooped up a handful to fill her werewolf part of her body and for the first time this morning, I noticed she was at the table with us. Crap. I knew it was only a matter of time before she ratted me out.

Will took the rest of the bacon, leaving none for the rest of us, just as Nessie came in with another plate. Emma, Momma, and I took some of the eggs and left the rest of the scrambled eggs and sausage for Dad. Being half vampire meant we had to eat some human food, but other than cereal, we only liked eggs for breakfast.

I eyed Allison with worry, knowing full well she had every right to tattle on me, but instead she looked up with her deep brown eyes and said, "Do you think that Collin will make it through?"

Jake looked at Nessie hesitantly before looking back at my sister. There was no way to get around this conversation. She and Will had both been phased when the Pack had tried to calm Collin down right after Ella's death. It had been tough for the Shifter, but once he was reminded of his children, he seemed to focus better on not killing himself. It was the only natural reaction to an imprint's death, but even so, the Pack was working around the clock to keep Collin alive.

"I don't know." He said honestly. "Imprints are something special, you guys know that." Jake said, mostly to Allie and Will since apparently me and Emma don't count.

"I know, it's just he has Esperanza and Alejandro to think about." Allie said with a frown. Though she was technically five years old like my other two little siblings, she was nineteen phsyically and thought like it too.

"They're a part of Ella, shouldn't that be enough to keep him here?" Emma piped in, clearly not wanting to be forced out of this conversation.

"I'm not sure if it's enough." Nessie said sadly. "Collin is bound to protect and love his imprint; now that she's dead, this world is doesn't make any sense to him."

I stirred my cereal in my milk, thinking about how I would feel if Gazzy wasn't with me. I don't blame Collin for not being able to handle it.

"I don't think I can go to the funeral." Emma said quietly.

"Why not, sweetie?" Nessie said gently, knowing that Emma was the most sensitive of her children. Thirteen was a hard age for most humans, but for half vampires it was the hardest. I'm just glad that I passed through that stage rather quickly.

"It's just so sad, Momma." Emma said, trying to hold back tears. "I don't think I could be around that many emotional people right now."

Emma had developed a sort of gift over the years. Though at first we thought it was like Uncle Jasper's, it was much more powerful. She basically got his gift plus Edward's gift rolled into one. So instead of just feeling someone's worst emotions, she has to see what memory went with it. Most of the time she can tune it out, but with a huge crowd, it's hard.

"I'll call Bella and tell her to shield you, okay?" Nessie said gently. "Then you can come and won't have to worry about it."

Jacob cleared his throat. "I think it's time to get going. I promised Edward that I would help escourt Collin for the ceremony, so I'll meet you there."


	17. Funeral

**Merry Christmas! Here's a bonus chapter that I wasn't planning on posting. Warning; it's sad so if you are still in the holiday spirits I'd wait 'cause I was tearing up just writing it. Review regardless though lol, the story is about to change dramatically :) **

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Chapter Seventeen

Max's POV

"We are gathered here to remember a dear friend of ours. She was a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, but most importantly, she was an imprint. She was kind to everyone and loved her family more than anything." Carlisle said, starting the funeral for Ella with grace. All of the Cullens, Blacks, and Flock members were in attendance of the wake at First Beach. This was how Quilites went out, and it was only fitting for Ella to get the same treatment. "Gabriella Louise Martinez Harlen will be missed by all of us."

Carlisle cleared his throat though as a vampire it wasn't needed. "I believe that the Flock has all prepared something to say about Ella." He said, motioning for us to start.

I was supposed to go first, but I shook my head weakly and Fang went up instead.

"The second she met us, she never wanted normal." Fang quoted with a glance at me, knowing that I would remember our wedding day; the day that Ella's fate was sealed to Collin's permanently. I smiled at him weakly and made my way over to the casket that he was standing by.

I laid my hand gently on the casket and frowned. "Ella was one of a kind, even for a human, and I'm proud to have gotten to call her my sister." I said, taking the mike from my husband. "From the moment that I first met her, I knew that she was a part of me. I had been on my way to the School to rescue Angel when I saw a bunch of guys picking on her. I didn't know her from Eve, but I knew in my gut that I had to save her."

I paused to look at Collin, his face twisted in a permanent frown, and I knew that he had felt the same way now that I had felt that day. "She took me into her home and introduced me to our mother. There she helped heal my wing and heal a little bit of my heart too. She showed me what being family really meant, and though I had had the Flock my whole life, I didn't know that I missed a real family until I was shown one. Ella was my family, even before Jeb confirmed she was blood."

I felt myself tearing up so I dropped the mike back on the pulpit and ran back to my seat. I refused to cry in front of Ella, dead or not. She deserved better.

I expected one of the Cullens to go say something nice about Ella, but instead, Collin made his way up there. He was having trouble walking straight, but he staggered up there nonetheless. He didn't pick up the microphone, instead he spoke quietly and mostly to his imprint it seemed. This was about her and we all knew he needed this closure.

"I remember the first thing you ever said to me, Els." Collin said quietly, kneeling beside the casket tenderly. He stroked Ella's pale cold face gently and continued speaking softly to her. ""Hey, buddy," you said angrily. I had my back turned to you but even before I imprinted your voice stopped me in my tracks with a power I didn't recognize. I was in your way of seeing Max for the first time as a bride and you were intent on making me move. You had guts for a human. I hate that my first words to you weren't "I love you" because I knew that I did the moment I saw you. Instead, you were with some scrawny boy and I was just a groomsman here for Jake teasing you about which bride you wanted to see."

I could see that Collin was having trouble keeping from bursting into tears at the thought of her not being here, but he kept it together the best he could. Only a few tears fell from his eyes before he continued his speech to her. "Ella, you remember our wedding?" He whispered, wiping the stray tears away. "We went camping as a weekend getaway but you insisted that you were ready to take our relationship to the next level. You wanted to be my wife more than you feared Max's reaction or the scolding you knew you'd get from your mother. You were determined to make me yours even though it was silly. You had always been mine, Els." He placed a kiss lovingly on her forehead, not caring that she was long gone.

"And then you wanted a baby." Collin said sadly. "Just a minature little you and me to make your dreams come true. So we tried, and we tried, and we tried until Dr. Vamp said it was impossible. Then we tried again because you were determined. That's what I loved most about you; you always ignored everyone's advice and went with your gut. You knew that we would have a baby so we tried until we concieved, and even when we found out that Essy was supposed to die, you didn't listen."

More tears streamed his face. "Why did you have to be so stubborn?" He asked in a whisper. He broke down into a fit of tears and before I could stop her, Annie ran up to the microphone.

"I knew Ella for half my life, but in that brief time, I knew she loved me like flesh and blood." My daughter said quietly into the mike. "I wasn't Max's and everyone knew it, but still Ella treated me like her niece." She smiled at Collin though it was strained. "I wish that I had told you all sooner about my vision, but it wouldn't have changed anything. But maybe you would have been more prepared, Uncle Collin, because that's what she wanted."

I heard the rustling of paper and turned to see that Annie had pulled out Ella's babybook for the twins. "I can't read very well." Annie admitted quietly, looking at me for help. I was frozen in my seat though.

Angel joined Annie at the pulpit and read out loud what my daughter couldn't. "Dear family, It's me, Ella. I know that if I survive this, then I will have wasted this page for Alejandro's baby book, but it is important to me to be prepared so hopefully you can as well. From what I've heard, I don't have much longer. I want you all to know I love you all." Angel paused and looked us in the eye. "The next parts are to individual people."

"Max, you're my sister, but you are also my best friend. I know that you'll keep on taking care of everyone and that makes me smile knowing that everyone will be alright without me. Stay strong and resilient because that's who you are. _You're brave._ If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing; I'd get in that fight with the gang and have you rescue me because that's the kind of person you are. You are everything I ever wanted to be, Max, and I love you so much sissy.

"Fang, take care of Max. I know that you will because you always have. Even when we were first introduced all those years ago, I knew that you loved my sister deeply and that she would love you the same way eventually. You are the rock that she leans on, but don't forget that sometimes she needs you to be a little softer than stone. Oh, and keep writing; you are truly gifted, Fang, but sometimes you seem to forget that.

"Nick, if you've returned then I hope you found what you were looking for. Though we hadn't known each other long, you were nice to me and its only fair I return the favor. Tell her you love her..." Angel paused her reading and looked up at us and the vacant spot where Nick would have sat if he had returned. "It doesn't say who to." She cleared her throat and continued. "She deserves to know and I know that she'll feel the same way when she's ready. On second thought, give her time."

"Iggy, don't blow anything up. Seriously. I could go on and on about how wonderful you are, but you already know it. You have a strong head on your shoulders and I know that you can handle anything. You have always been that way, even before you and Nudge got together and I had a crush on you. You never knew that, did you? I guess things worked out for the best anyways. I have Collin and you have Nudge and that's how it was always supposed to be. Take good care of them.

"Nudge, my sweet motorbox Nudge. Stay true to yourself, no one can take away your individuality and I pity the person who tries. You are a free spirit. Love that little girl of yours like I know you will and love my children as well. Hope and Alex need a carefree aunt that will spoil them rotten and I know you are up for the task. You're my sister too, no matter who are parents were, and I love you.

"Gasman, my no longer stinky brother of sorts, you have always been a force to be reckoned with and don't let growing up stop you. I wish I could see the man you become because I know he'll be someone to be proud of. Listen to Max, buddy, she loves you more than you'll ever know. And don't rush into things with Bex. She loves you and isn't going anywhere; be a kid again because I know it was a hard childhood and you deserve to be young for a little while longer. By the way, you might want to change your name soon, buddy, since you've outgrown it already.

"Angel, my baby sister. Don't cry." Angel wiped her tears as she paused reading and took Ella's advice. "It's going to be hard not to considering how close we were, but try and be brave like Max because you are that and so much more. I know how sensitive you are to everyone around you, but it's going to be okay. I'm in a better place and I know that you are there to help watch over my babies. You too need to be a child a little longer. You're not the 'baby' anymore, you're grown up right before my eyes. I know you're sixteen, but live a little! You're future is set in stone so why not make it an adventure along the way? Be careful of your power because it gets you in trouble sometimes and I just want you safe and happy. I love you, Angel and don't ever forget that."

Angel wiped a few stray tears and looked at Collin on the ground. "This next part is to you and the twins." She said quietly. "Do you want me to read it?"

Collin shook his head so Angel handed him the babybook. I knew this was really hard on him, as it was for the rest of us, but he had a bond with Ella that couldn't be compared to the rest of ours.

I glanced to my right at Valencia and almost started crying again. My mom was in tears, her head leaning on Jeb's who also had tears glitting his eyes. Though Jeb hadn't been her father, he loved my mom and me, and on some level I knew that he loved Ella too.

Great, here come my own tears.


	18. Guess Who's Back?

**AN: I know I tend to do this a lot in this story, but I'm jumping forward a few years. Otherwise I would be stuck in mourning Ella forever and what kind of a story would that be? lol. It shouldn't be too confusing but let me know if it is and I'll explain it better over PM. Thanks for the review I know you'll leave :) **

* * *

Chapter Eighteen

Nick's POV

It had been two years since I was last home (or at the place that I had decided was my home, since I had never been actually invited to live there) and I was anxious to get back and see everyone. It took me a lot longer to track down the remaining School facilities, but I did it.

And I brought back a few of the surviving experiments too. Most had decided to see what life was like on their own, but a few of them that had heard about The Maximum Ride wanted to meet her and share their experiences with the "Savior of the Experiments" as they call her.

It started getting old about two months ago when our rag-tag group started heading back to Forks. I'm not ungrateful or hurt that they didn't see me actually physically rescuing them as their hero, I'm just saying that they could quit with all the Maxapaloza.

I turned to Robin on my right and secretly monitored her wing patterns. Though she had never been let out of her cage at the Institute in Long Island where I found her, she knew how to fly almost instantly. She was a quick learner, that was for sure. From what I gathered from her stories and the few memories that included a reference to time, she was seventeen.

Her older brother, Riley, was not much younger than me but he was not all there in the head so he was treated like her younger brother instead. Roughly about twenty-four, Riley had a hard life.

He was created right after Fang and I were conceived as a sort of backup Flock member. When his DNA didn't quite hold up, They called for a termination. His mother, the scientist in charge, only held off because she thought he could be a useful chew toy for the Erasers. And he was.

That's why he's even more messed up now than most of us, but none of us had the heart to leave him behind undefended; especially Robin. The girl was young but she understood the responsibility she was signing up for.

"He's family." She had said sternly when I had asked why not put him out of his misery. "Family might not matter to anyone else, but to me it does. Riley comes with us or I leave."

I couldn't really argue with her logic; I knew if things had been different and Fang had known I was alive all those years ago when Jeb left with the Flock, he would have demanded I be brought along too.

Below the three of us were our non-Avian companions. Though it meant we had to take more breaks, they decided to run (or whatever their animal DNA allowed them to do) instead of be carried by us. It takes guts to do that is all I'm saying.

Genevieve, who we call Jenny, is part penguin. Though she's small, she manages to keep up with us most of the time. When she lags behind, one of us usually picked her up though because she really was just a kid.

I guess her age to be about nine, but she talks older so I can't be quite sure. None of the others had ever seen a surviving penguin/human cross so they don't know either. The Institute in Florida where she was from had no records on site and I had run out of time so I guess it will always be a mystery.

Running beside her waddle was Toni. Short for Antonia, Toni was part tiger. Ironic, I know, but I didn't have the heart to tell her about the other Tiger named Tony. She would find out soon enough if she stuck around the Cullens long enough.

She was from the Virginia Institute along with about thirty other experiments. It was the largest rescue I did, but only Toni decided to stay with us. Her nineteen year old twin, Anthony, decided to split at the Arizona border and Toni was crushed. She didn't once look back though, and I wonder if she regrets it.

Leo, keeping pace next to Toni, was part snow leopard. He was from the Tennessee Institute but he had been created in the one not far from Death Valley. He was the oldest experiment I had ever met (other than that creepy turtle lady I've heard about that was like a hundred). No, Leo was a good ten years older than me, almost thirty-five, and he had grey (well actually white-ish) hair to prove it.

He had been programed to be a mate for one of the other experiments but she had died giving birth to their son. The boy survived and was actually with us. He was running beside his father, making the final member of our rag tag team.

Raymond was part snow leopard and part cheetah as well as being human. He was truely one of a kind. Though Max and the gang had pretty much all had children, Ray was the first successful generation two experiment. (He's also the first living combination of two different breeds of animals; not even Max's kids can say that). He's about fifteen now and can keep up a conversation better than Nudge or her clone. The kid is a cheetah-chatter box!

Anyways, we were nearing Forks border line when I noticed that Jenny was getting tired so I picked up the little penguin girl and held her close to my chest as we continued to fly (and run) through the forest.

I hoped that Alice had seen me coming and knew to have everyone ready, but since we were experiments, it wasn't likely.

I hope not much had changed since I left.

There was someone that I had been dying to see over the past two years and I wasn't going to waste another second worrying about everyone's reactions. I loved her and I was going to tell her. I didn't care if she was younger than me or it might be frowned upon; I knew in my gut that we belonged together.

I didn't care that I was different from "normal" Flock members because I had grafted in lupine DNA as well or that I wasn't fit to raise a family yet or that when I got back, she might not even remember me. All I cared about was her.

Just like Fang knew that Max was his when we were only kids and Nudge knew that Iggy would someday love her back, I knew she belonged with me from the moment I laid eyes on her. Most birds mated for life afterall.

* * *

**AN: Okay, so that chapter didn't have much dialogue, but I_ promise_ the upcoming chapters won't be as much introducing characters as this one was. Bonus points to anyone who can guess who Nick loves :)**


	19. Confessions

Chapter Nineteen

Max's POV

I was just getting Esperanza to sleep when Alice came into the nursery, jumping around like crazy, and woke my niece up.

"Thanks a lot, Alice." I muttered sourly at the pixie as Hope began to cry.

Though she was two and technically a toddler, she needed a lot of sleep to keep her energized so she slept almost as much as a newborn. She had been on a breathing machine until almost her first birthday due to being born extremely premature, but has since never had to use it. Ella's daughter is now healthy other than the needing to sleep a lot thing. That's saying a lot considering how Carlisle predicted she would need help living her whole life.

"Sorry, sorry." The psychic said with a grin. "I just saw the most wonderful thing and I thought you'd want to know first."

"What is it?" I asked, gently rocking Esperanza back and forth to calm her down.

Collin was out on official Pack duties so that left me with taking care of was the one time of the day, Nap Time, that I wished Tobias was here. Collin had set up rules for the imprinter of his daughter and this was one of them. He wanted Hope to be able to have time with family before she got too big to want them anymore.

"Nick is coming home." Alice said happily. "And from what I can see, he has other experiments with him."

"You mean he really did it?" I asked in disbelief. "He really took out the last of the School?"

Though it had been my mission to complete, I knew that I wouldn't be able to do it as soon as I got pregnant with Arian. I was a mother now, despite how great it would feel to kick butt again. Luckily, Fang's twin had no objections to taking over my role.

Still, this was shocking news. Most of us had assumed that he had lost interest or had been captured by one of the School's facilities when he didn't return within the first eight months. Two years was a long time to wait.

"Apparently he did." Alice said with a shrug. "How should I know? I can only partially see experiments to begin with, usually Annie handles those."

"Where is she, anyways?" I asked mostly to myself as I rocked Hope back to sleep again.

"Oh, Fang took Annie and AJ to La Push for the day." Alice informed me. "I thought he would have mentioned this to you?"

"Yeah, that's right." I said, remembering what my husband had said earlier. Most of the Flock were heading down there for a bonfire later tonight but my children had been in need of seeing their imprinters so Fang took them ahead.

"Well, I'm headed to Crew Headquarters to let them know that Nick and a few more experiments are coming here soon. Since our house is already full, I think it'd be better for them to live there as well." Alice said with a grin.

"Oooh, that gives me an idea for a new wing of that house. I'm thinking indoor pool..." She said to herself as she left the room.

I laid Esperanza back in her crib as soon as her breathing evened out. I went in search of my nephew so that I could get him ready for the bonfire as well. By time I tricked Alejandro into putting shoes on, Hope would be done from her nap.

I found Alex in the kitchen eating a bowl of soup with Emma Black. I smiled at the two who had become sort of siblings since Ella's death. The half vampire was fully grown as of a month ago, but she still had a sort of innocence about her that I admired. She was responsible, though somewhat of a loner, so she got stuck with helping care for the twins.

However, Hope's twin was no longer able to pass as her twin anymore. Alex was now physically five due to his werewolf abilities and would continue to grow rapidly until he hit puberty, or so Carlisle predicts at least.

"Mornin' Max." Little Alejandro said with a grin, soup slopping down the side of his face.

"Goodmorning, Alex." I said, then gestured to Emma. "Morning, Em."

"Did you hear what Alice has been buzzing about all morning?" Emma asked with a heart stopping smile. "Nick is coming back! He did it!"

"I know, she just told me a minute ago." I said, trying to wipe Alex's face off but he squirmed out of my way.

"You don't think that he brought back a, um, imprint, do you?" Emma asked nervously.

I had to laugh at that one. Even though she was the only one of her siblings other than Bex that wasn't part werewolf, she too was worried about imprints? This didn't make any sense.

"I'm sure you'll find a guy on your own. Don't worry about it, Emma." I said, finally getting the glop off of Alex's face and smirking in victory.

Emma looked down at the table with a blush on her pale cheeks, her straight bronze hair falling in front of her face in an attempt to hide it. "No, I, uh, mean for Nick." She said quietly. "You don't think he found his imprint, do you?"

"What are you talking about? Nick is an Avian, we don't have imprints." I said blankly, not sure why she cared in the first place. He was twenty-five and she was technically only seven; he was way too old for her and I knew Jacob wouldn't approve of his daughter's crush.

"How long have you liked him?" I asked bluntly, knowing there was no way around it at this point. She knew that I knew anyways, might as well help her sort through her feelings. (Yeah, I know, I'm one to talk).

"Since he left." Emma confessed softly, not meeting my eyes.

"I know how you feel." I said honestly. "I didn't know Fang was the one for me until we split the Flock up over my brother all those years ago. I was young then like you were young two years ago, but I couldn't help it just like I know you can't help it."

"But what if he changed or I changed so much that he doesn't even want to be my friend?" Emma asked desperately. "I've gone without him for too long now to not have him at all."

"I'm sure everything will work out in the end." I said, trying to make her feel better. "If not with him than with some other boy." I added since I didn't know if Nick even liked her at all.

"Thanks Max, that really helped." Emma said with a small smile. "I gotta go get ready for the bonfire, see you guys there."

* * *

**AN: Okay, so this can either go two ways; 1) Emma can be the one that Nick likes and they end up happy or 2) Nick can like Serenity, Two-Two, or Annie like people guessed and I'll work it out like that. Your choice so please review because I really like hearing your guys' opinions. Thanks, and know that this could seriously change things from here on out. :) **


	20. Second Beach

**AN: Quick recap for those of you who might need it since I skipped two years (next chapter underneath though so keep reading):**

_Eleven years after MAX. Ages: Angel-18. Gasman-20; Nudge-22 Iggy-24 Fang, Nick, & Max-25_

_Fourteen years after Breaking Dawn; ages: Nessie-14 (looks about 18), Collin-25, Seth-27, Jake-28, Leah- 31, Embry-30_

_MY WOLVES: Dylan-19, Tobias, David-20, Jeremiah & Joshua-22, Scotty-23_

_-only people left in Pack are Tobias, David, Collin, Jake, Seth, Leah, Embry & (Allie, Will, and Alex)_

* * *

_THE CREW: Nudge II "Nuala" (22), Denver; part horse (22), Serenity; part robot (21), Kirby; 2% frog (19), Angel II "Two-Two" (18)_

* * *

_Nessie and Jake's kids: Bex (8; (fully grown) looks 18), Emma (½ vampire. ½ human.) (7; fully grown finally), Allie (½ werewolf. ½ human.) (7; (fully grown) looks 19), & Will Black (¼ vamp, ¼ werewolf. ½ human) (7; looks about 15ish)_

_Max and Fang's kids: Anastasia Ride "Annie" (Max II's) (10) & Arian Journey Ride "AJ" (7 1/2)_

_Iggy and Nudge's daughter: Sierra Griffin (4 ½ years old-grows normally but part vampire like parents)_

_Nuala and Denver's kids: Jayden (4) & Karrim (2 1/2)_

_Ella and Collin's two year old twins: Alejandro "Alex" (looks 5-werewolf) & Esperanza "Hope" Harlen (looks real age-human)_

* * *

Chapter Twenty

Fang's POV

"Swing me higher, Daddy!" Arian yelled, his almost eight year old voice sounding louder than usual this morning.

I nodded in agreement and pushed his swing just the tiniest bit higher. My son laughed with joy but I knew it was only because he felt like he could fly without his wings out.

The jungle gym was a new feature in La Push, but the local residents said it was about time. Now, whenever I take the kids to Second Beach, they can swim or play on the new equipment. Either way it tires them out. I'll have to thank Edward again for donating the money for it. Ever since he became a grandfather, he has been super generous to Jake and the residents here. I think it makes him feel closer to his family that live on this side of the border.

And yes, the old Treaty is still in tact. Though vampires were allowed to cross over for Ella's funeral all those years ago, that was the only exception other than medical emergancies that require Dr. Carlisle. I think it is a little bogus since the Cullens would never hurt anyone, but hey, it's their rules. Besides, I think now that it is mostly to keep other kids from phasing.

A Pack of seven (and the second generation of phasing wolves) is enough for a town this size. Most of the wolves have moved off in recent years but those who stayed have imprints to look out for; execpt for David. He's only staying because his twin did to be closer to Esperanza.

"I wanna swim." Anastasia said, coming to sit by me in the sand near my feet.

"I'm sorry, Annie, I can't watch you both at the same time and your brother wants to swing right now." I said truthfully and my ten year old huffed. Though the rest of the Flock was here, minus my Max who was taking care of her niece and nephew while Collin ran patrol, I didn't like the kids being in the water without me. It wasn't that I didn't trust the Flock, it was just that I was paranoid.

"I never get to have any fun." Annie complained, but it was only in sulking. She was just as dramatic as Alice and Angel combined, but she had Max's attitude along with the theatrics.

"Maybe I can call Nessie and see where your wolf is?" I prompted, knowing the reaction it would get. We had come to Second Beach to hang out with their imprinters but so far all we had been doing was waiting.

"Eeeeeeeaaaaaaa, yes!" Annie screamed. "Call her. Call her right now. Come on, Daddy, call her." She said, bouncing up and down in antisipation.

"Hold on," I said with a chuckle, "I'm going to have to be able to hear first." I joked but that quieted her down some.

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed the Black house phone number. Hopefully one of them was still there to answer.

"Y'ellow?" A voice answered and I had to bite back a smirk. Those Black kids were something alright.

"Will, it's Fang." I said with a grin at my daughter who was now trying to grab the phone from me to talk to her wolf.

"Is Annie there?" Will asked excitedly, his fifteen year old voice cracking with excitement as well. He coughed to sound tougher but I knew it was only becuase I was a guy and not that he wanted to impress Annie like that yet. "How is she? Is she okay? What's wrong?"

Just like an imprinter to always jump to conclusions.

"Nothing's wrong. We're just up at Second Beach waiting for you guys and Annie is getting bored." I said with a smirk. "How much longer do you think you guys will be?"

"Not long, we're waiting on Emma to get back from the Cullen's but we'll probably head out without her." Will informed me. "Hey, have you seen Gazzy? Bex is going crazy without him."

"Yeah, he's here somewhere, I think." I said, unsure where my youngest male Flock member was at now.

I could see most of them in the water, but I couldn't make out which one was the guy formerly known as the Gasman. He had changed his name on his eighteenth birthday to Greggory Gasman but only Bex had ever accepted it. To the rest of us, he would always be our Gazzy even if he no longer had odor problems.

"Okay, I'll tell my sister that; maybe that'll get her out of the bathroom so we can finally leave." Will said with a laugh. "Tell Annie I'll be there in a minute so she won't be bored anymore."

"I'll tell her." I said, hanging up the phone. I turned to my daughter as I continued to push AJ on the swings. "He'll be here shortly. Why don't you play on the slide where I can see you?" I asked and she nodded and ran off to play on the jungle gym that she had previously refused to play on now that she knew her wolf would be here soon.

Not even five minutes later, the Blacks arrived at the beach and within seconds I was alone.

Bex ran off into the water to find Gazzy, not even bothering to strip down to her swimsuit so her overclothes would be wet when she wanted out of the water later. Will came and took Annie to the water, blowing up her inflatable toys for her first. And Allie took my place pushing Arian on the swings.

When I didn't see their middle child Emma, I went to sit by Nessie and Jake who were setting up blankets and beach chairs for when the kids got tired of the water. Nessie smiled warmly at me, while Jacob gave me a universal man head nod. I returned it and sat down on the beach towel closest to me.

"When did they get so big?" I asked mainly to myself.

"I know what you mean." Nessie said lightly. "Only yesterday it seemed I gave birth to my kids and now look at them." She pointed generally at where they were and I bit back a smile. "My girls are all as old as me physically, if not more, and it won't be long before Will is either." She said sadly. "Sometimes I just wish they were normal and didn't have our mythical DNA."

Jake frowned at this but didn't say anything. I could tell from the look on both their faces that Nessie had said stuff like this before and probably recently.

"At least they're happy." I suggested, trying to cheer her up. I had never been good with girls, especially since Max wasn't one to share her feelings that often.

"That's true." Nessie said, seeming to think again. "Though I think Bex wants to get married so she can start her own little family." She admitted, and we both looked across the water at the pair sharing a kiss.

"She's too young." Jake said with a low halfhearted growl.

"She's been eighteen for almost five years now." Nessie objected.

"She's only eight." Jacob said with a sigh. "She's still a baby."

"So? I was seven when we got together." Nessie piped up. "She's old enough to make her own decisions. Just be glad she still chooses to live at home. She won't want to once she and Greg tie the knot."

I felt like this would be a good time to jump out of this conversation but I needed a distraction. Luckily, I got one when Emma arrived. She skidded on to the beach and nearly fell on top of one of the beach chairs as she tried to stop.

"Woah, keep your shirt on." Jacob said, using the old familiar phrase from a tv show he and Will (and now Annie) liked.

"You'll never guess who's finally back." Emma said, catching her breath. She must have run all the way from the Cullen's house. Half vampire or not, her human side obviously needed a break.

"Who?" The three of us asked at the same time.

"Nick Ravenwood." Emma said my twin's name and I nearly fell over.


	21. Heading Home

Chapter Twenty-One

Nick's POV

"Robin, see if you can get Riley to settle down." I suggested, hoping the seventeen year old would be able to handle her mentally unstable twenty-four year old brother. The blondes were both in the sky in an instant.

Watching the two of them together was something special. Though Riley wasn't all there, Robin never treated him like that. They were perfect siblings in every way. While Riley continued to fly in random, not thought out circles close to the trees, Robin flew right beside him and kept pace with his incoherent flight path. Her blue tipped robin wings were graceful while his bulky sandy wings weren't, but they managed to match the same movements.

"I'm hungry." Nine year old Genevieve complained, reminding me of another little girl that I knew in the School as nothing other than Nudge. Both had the same dark skin, but Jenny's was due to being part penguin. Her tiny stomach was perfectly white and gave her the tuxido look. The brown eyes and black hair help her look too.

"I know." I said, fishing in my bag for what was left of our food. I had stolen some extra cash from the Cullen house before I left since I knew I would be gone much longer than the six months I promised my brother. Fang would forgive me though, just as I knew that Carlisle and Esme would for taking the money.

But now the cash was out and so was the food.

I found a cereal bar and tossed it to the youngest of our Troopers. Jenny smiled widely as she scarfed down her food, somehow mangaging to swallow it whole like only a penguin can do.

"Was that the last of it?" Leo asked, coming from the forest and shaking his white hair to hide his cat like ears.

His grey eyes met mine and I knew that he knew the answer to his question. He was a smart guy for a snow leapord. Most animal hybrids tended to be on the dumb side, but Leo had age on his side. Thirty-five and still kicking. It was amazing for a School experiment.

I nodded nonetheless and Raymond sighed as he took a seat by his father. I didn't even notice him joining us, but that was the problem with a fifteen year old who was part leapord, part cheetah. He talked almost as fast as Nudge and runs faster than Edward and Leah combined. He was definitely unique, especially with his pale skin and eyes like his father and orange-ish hair color like I assume his mom had.

The only one who looked even closely like him that I had ever met was Antonia. Toni has a small striped tail and ears that she can cover as well as the leapords hide theirs. She has tan skin, orange hair with black looking highlights though I know they are real due to her tiger DNA, and coal black eyes.

If she had been younger, she and Ray would have made a good couple, but she's four years older and thinks of him as a little kid. Me, however, she finds adorable despite our six year age difference. Help me.

"But I'm hungry too. Why do we never have enough food? I just want to eat enough for once and not have to be hungry again. That would be great, huh? To not be hungry? Have you ever not been hungry, Nick? Was there ever a time in your life when you were completely fed?" Ray said in one breath, giving Nudge a run for her money. "I bet you have. You lived with those vampires for years. I bet they fed you. Did one of them ever try to eat you? That'd be scary, I think. But you're not afraid of anything, right? That's why you took down our Institute all by yourself! Just like Max did with the other Schools. But she had a Flock, you're by yourself..."

"Slow down there, son." Leo said with a laugh. "We'll eat soon enough."

"When are we gonna be in Forks?" Toni asked, coming to sit next to me on the log. She scooted closer to me to keep warm, but I knew it was an act. The girl was smitten, but I had been trying not to give her the wrong impression since we picked her up from the Institute she was at. I had someone hopefully waiting for me back home. If not, I had a girl that I was in love with.

"We're about three miles out." I said, pretending to need to look at the map as I got up from the log and away from Toni.

"Great! Let's go then!" Jenny said excitedly. She waddled over towards me and handed me her empty wrapper that had been licked clean.

I looked up at the late afternoon sky and frowned when I saw that Riley was still flapping around like crazy and Robin was nowhere near closer to settling him down.

"I think we should spend the night here." I advised. "I still haven't called them to let them know we're coming and, besides, I don't think Riley is ready yet."

"He'll be ready if we have to go." Robin yelled, obviously having heard me with her advanced bird hearing.

"You sure?" I called back, not wanting to risk Riley having another episode. My Troopers were all that mattered to me right now. Until I saw _her_ face again, then it was just going to be her.

"Yeah, he can handle it, I swear." Robin said and sure enough, in ten minutes, he was calmed down enough to fly straight and like that we were off. I carried Jenny while the others ran underneath so we made great time. The sun was just starting to set when we stopped in the Cullen's forest.

This was what we, mainly I, had been waiting for.


	22. At Last

Chapter Twenty-Two

Emma's POV

I couldn't wait until Nick got back. Like seriously, I was going crazy. I ran all the way to La Push to tell my family about his upcoming return, then I ran all the way back so I would be sure not to miss his arrival.

I don't know when the crush started exactly. But since he left two years ago, I haven't been the same. He's on my mind every time I see an injured bird or look at Fang or even sometimes when I see my parents kiss. It's little things that remind me of him and make this so much harder for me.

All I know for sure is that I can't wait for him to come back and see the new, fully grown me. When he left, I was not quite fourteen but now I was eighteen physically (the oldest I was ever going to get) and ready for his love. I didn't care that he was older than me or that he wasn't completely like me.

Alice warned me that he wouldn't be back until at least nightfall, but I stood on the porch all morning and into the afternoon. At dinner time, Esme coaxed me inside but only because she said that Alejandro was crying for me.

I fear that he sometimes confuses me with his mother because she had died right after his birth and I was always helping take care of him. I knew it was hard on Max to watch her niece and nephew all the time, so I helped as often as I could. Besides, it wasn't like she didn't have her own kids to think about. And Collin tried to avoid his kids as much as he could, though I wouldn't really blame him. They were part of the reason she was gone now. If Alex hadn't been a wolf, or if Hope hadn't been human, then Ella would still be alive today and everyone knows it.

Alex calmed down once I sat and ate with him, though as soon as we finished eating, I took him to the backyard to play. Like I said, I wasn't going to miss Nick's return for anything. This way, I got to watch Alejandro and keep an eye out for Nick at the same time; win win.

I was in the middle of spinning Alex around, and grinning like an idiot at the little five year old, when I heard what sounded like a gasp.

I set Alejandro down, kissed the top of his head, and went in the direction of the noise. "Stay right there, Alex." I threatened, but didn't turn my back to see that he had stayed where he was.

"Emma? Is that you?" A voice asked from the treeline and I nodded with a huge grin.

I couldn't help what happened next, really I tried to act like the adult I now was, but when I heard Nick's voice I kinda lost it. I ran into the trees just as he showed himself and I flung myself at him. He stumbled back when I jumped on him, but I wrapped my legs around his torso so as not to fall. Or if he did, I was going to go down with him.

"Thank god you're alright." I said, pressing myself into him closer in a hug. "Fang was so worried."

"Fang was worried, huh?" Nick asked with a smirk.

I was never going to forget that look, and I was ashamed of my memory for not doing it justice. His dark hair had grown some since the last time I saw him, but it looked like it had recently been cut with a switchblade. His dark eyes were exactly the same though and I tried not to giggle as he went to lay his head on top of mine and his five o'clock shadow tickled my forehead.

I nodded, trying not to think about the awkward position we were in and I prayed that my family didn't come out here yet. Just as I thought that though, I felt someone tug on my leg. I looked down to see Alex and ashamedly climbed off of Nick.

"What is it, honey?" I asked as I picked up Alex and settled him on my hip.

"It's time for my bed." Alejandro said adorably and I couldn't help but giggle at the little werewolf. He looked at Nick and scowled. "Fang loves Max, not my Emma." He said, glaring at Fang's twin with anger that I didn't know he possessed.

"I'm not Fang, my name is Nick." Nick said, looking at Alex with a troubled look. "And who are you?"

"Oh, this is Alejandro. He's Collin's little boy." I explained with a smile. "His twin sister Esperanza is in the house with Max, I think."

"He a shifter?" Nick asked and seemed to get even more upset when I nodded.

"Uhm." Someone cleared their throat from behind us and I remembered that Nick was supposed to be bringing other freed experiments with him...and they all just saw my stupid display.

Six people emerged from the trees and I turned around, my face flushed with embarrassment. "Uh, Alice has a party planned in the Main House." I said, walking in that direction. The wolves had decided to keep their bonfire, but cut it short so they could be involved with Nick's Homecoming Party too. They would be joining our little party in a few hours once their bonfire was over.

I went straight upstairs to the nursery and tucked Alex in bed instead of going to the party first. I needed time to clear my head so I could try and not look like a complete idiot in from of Nick the next time I saw him.


	23. Preparations

Chapter Twenty-Three

Jasper's POV

Tonight was the big night. This morning, my Alice predicted that Nick would return around seven and when Annie confirmed it, that was all it took my mate to decide that we were having the biggest homecoming party of all time. Seriously, this was the biggest event Alice had planned in a long time. I don't even think Max and Nessie's double wedding was this huge.

All of the Cullens were getting the Main House ready since the wolves and their imprints were already in La Push getting ready for the bonfire that would occur not long before Nick's party started.

"Alice, where did you want me to hang this banner?" Rosalie asked from in the kitchen. My wife was upstairs finishing the last couple of details up there but I knew she heard her.

I was sitting on the couch with the other men since we were apparently incapable of helping. Rose was handling decorations, Esme was cooking food for the experiments that came back with Nick and for later when the wolves arrived, and Bella was making cupcake after cupcake for everyone. And my Alice? Well, she was doing pretty much everything else. I swear I hadn't seen her move that fast since the Volturi Battle.

"The green one goes in the kitchen and the red one goes in the living room." Alice said lightly from upstairs.

In a flash, Rosalie was in and out of the living room, having hung up the red banner in a matter of miliseconds. Though we could all see her, it was still entertaining to think of what the humans would think if they had seen it. A banner appearing out of nowhere, neatly hung on the wall at fifteen feet up? That would surely scare some, if not all, of them.

Emmett let out a complimenting whistle for his own mate and waited for the childish giggle I knew was going to follow. The two of them were the easiest to predict, though Esme and Carlisle weren't far behind. Edward and Bella were the only ones who weren't predictable yet, but that was only because Bella was crazy.

_Hey, watch it. That's my wife you are talking about. _Edward sent to me in my mind and I had to silently curse Angel for teaching him how to expand his mind powers. Now not only did I have him snooping in my head, I also had to hear his sarcastic, defensive comments all the time.

Edward's lips turned upwards in a smirk so I knew that he knew I was only teasing.

Max came downstairs at a quarter to six and asked if we could keep an eye out for Esperanza and Alejandro upstairs. She had been watching Hope sleep for the past hour, but Emma only recently took Alex upstairs. The two kids slept all the time, Hope more than Alex (this was her fourth nap today and only his first), but it was only natural.

It reminded me of when Nessie was little and lived with us. Though we have the Flock and their children living here now, its not the same. Having Collin and his children here was what really changed things in our house.

Though I have to hunt more often since Hope is here, I wouldn't change it. It kind of makes me sad that Esme said yesterday that the new wing of the Crew Headquarters is almost done so the Flock will be moving out, taking Collin's children with them since he's in no place to care for them in the depression he's in over his dead imprint.

When Max left for the bonfire, I was shocked at who walked in the front door after her less than dramatic exit.

"What are you doing back so soon?" Carlisle asked Emma like the good grandfather he was.

(Edward and he shared the title since they were all too young and the "great-grandfather" was too lengthy. Carlisle was "Granddad," Edward was "Gramps," Bella was "Grammy," and Esme was "Grandma" to the Black children still young enough to call them that.)

"I, uh, just had to tell Mom about Nick's return 'cause her cell was off." Emma said breathlessly.

Edward smirked knowingly and signalled for me to read her emotions. I had been able to block out those that I didn't want to feel all the time my whole vampire existence, but it had always been hard when it came to humans. Since Emma was only half, I could block her out as well as I was blocking out the other vampires in the room right now.

Her emotions were all over the place. She was lustful and excited and nervous and scared and everything else you could think of. Ah, young love.

"Where's Alex?" Emma asked after she checked the kitchen and made small talk with her grandmothers. When she didn't find her favorite puppy wolf, she headed back into the living room.

"Max put him to bed when you left." Emmett said, "That kid sure has a set of lungs on him."

"Okay, I'll go watch them for a little bit." Emma said, smiling at the uncle she was named after. She automatically included Hope in her sentence because there was always a 75% chance that the toddler was sleeping.

"How did we end up with such a responsible girl?" Carlisle asked once the teenager was upstairs and out of hearing range.

"Just look at who her mother is." Emmett said with a laugh. "Nessie couldn't have been any more responsible as a kid, always taking care of everyone and stuff."

We continued to banter until Emma came back downstairs with a wide awake toddler. Alex ran ahead of her and was out in the backyard before any of us could catch him. The kid was fast, maybe even faster than Leah, and had an endless amount of energy. He seemed to be more wolf than human in that sense.

"I'm gonna play in the backyard and wait for Nick." Emma said with a grin and followed Alejandro outside.

"You're not worried about her crush?" I asked Edward, not feeling any unease from him.

"Why should I be? He knows that she's too young for him and wouldn't do anything." Edward answered.

"You do realize that she's full grown now, right?" Emmett said with a wink. "All bets are off if the boy returns her feelings."

"I hadn't thought about that." Edward said, clearing his throat. "No matter, though, he won't go near her."

"What can make you so certain?" Carlisle asked curiously.

"Because she has a vampire grandfather that won't let her have any fun." Bella answered for her husband as she joined us in the living room.

The other girls were soon to follow and within seconds they were all seated either on their mate's laps or on the floor. Alice was resting her head against my legs and I smiled when I felt the coldness of her neck.

"I just don't want her to grow up too fast." Edward said stubbornly.

"Sounds familiar." Rosalie said with an eye roll. "You tried to do this to Nessie too."

"If she were imprinted on, would it make a difference?" Alice asked, already knowing the answer.

"Of course." Edward said instantly. "Then I wouldn't have to worry."

Everyone laughed at that, but there was an awkwardness to his honest truth.

"Is everything ready for the party?" I asked, knowing that my Alice was excited to talk about her big spectacle.

"Yes! We finished just in time. Nick will be here within minutes according to my last vision." Alice said and began to happily tell me of the tiny details of her meticulous planning.

Like always, Alice's eyes lit up when her vision was supposed to come true and we all stared at the front door, waiting for Nick's arrival.

I heard the backdoor slam and turned to see Emma scurry up the stairs with Alejandro in her arms. Her emotions were just as confused as earlier but now there was rejection and embarrassment added to the mix.

"I'm going to kill that boy." Edward growled as we all went to the porch to welcome Nick and the other new experiments.


	24. Thinking

Chapter Twenty-Four

Nick's POV

I couldn't believe I had been so stupid. Of course she would have found someone else during the two years I was away, I just didn't expect him to be so young.

When I saw Emma for the first time since getting back, I was in shock. She wasn't the thirteen year old that I left; no, she was fully grown. Her straight bronze hair had gotten a little wave in it and had grown to where it fell just above her lower back and her figure had blossomed to that of a young woman, but that wasn't what I noticed first.

It was the five year old she was swinging around as if he was the only thing that mattered. I prayed that he wasn't a wolf who imprinted, or worse, her wolf son. I admit it, I gasped when I thought of either of those thoughts being true.

She kissed the top of his head and muttered, "Stay right there, Alex."

"Emma? Is that you?" I asked, though I would recognize her anywhere. She nodded with a huge grin and jumped on me, literally. Her now long legs wrapped themselves around me and I fought the urge to capture her lips with mine.

"Thank god you're alright. Fang was so worried." She said and I marvaled at her new adult voice. It was, dare I say it?, sexy.

"Fang was worried, huh?" I smirked. I laid my head on top of hers and couldn't help but smile as she giggled. I could tell that my five o'clock shadow would have to go, but I kind of liked how it made her react so I might just keep it.

Before I knew what was happening, the kid was next to us and pulling at her leg. She climbed off of me with an embarrassed blush and asked, "What is it, honey?" as she settled him on her beautiful hip.

"It's time for my bed." The kid said and Emma giggled at him. He scowled at me. "Fang loves Max, not my Emma."

"I'm not Fang, my name is Nick." I said coolly, but I knew that I was staring at the kid too hard. I was trying to see if I could see the strings bonding them to each other since he said her name and not 'mommy.' "And who are you?"

"Oh, this is Alejandro. He's Collin's little boy." Emma said with a heartbreaking smile. I wanted so badly for her to be smiling at me, but I knew that it was only because she was talking about her imprinter.

"He a shifter?" I asked and almost threw up in my mouth when she nodded adorably.

Leo cleared his throat to get my attention and the others instantly stepped out of the shadows. The sight of my Troopers seemed to make Emma upset.

"Uh, Alice has a party planned in the Main House." She said and took off towards the house without another word.

"That the girl?" Robin asked curiously. I knew about her crush on me, but it had never mattered until right now when I knew that I had no chance with Emma Black now that she had a future soul mate. Kid or not, I knew that imprinting was strong and I didn't stand a chance against it.

Still, I wanted to try. I loved her now more than ever, and it wasn't just because now she was old enough to actually feel the same way.

"Yeah, that's the girl." I admitted with a faint blush. It was rare for a Ravenwood to blush, but Fang and I did on occation (usually in regards to Max and, now, Emma).

"She's cute." Leo said approvingly and I had to hand it to the man for trying to cheer me up.

"Come on guys, let's go meet the family." I said and led my Troopers inside to where I knew that vampires were waiting. I hoped that at least one Flock member was there so it wouldn't feel as much like I was bringing dinner home.

The second I walked through the door, I was greeted with a hug from Esme. The other Cullens took turns hugging me as well even though I hated affection like that almost as much as Fang did.

I introduced Leo, Riley, Toni, Robin, Ray, and Jenny to the Cullens and most of them recieved hugs from Esme and Alice as well. Alice was particularly interested in Antonia. She whispered something in her ear before giggling and skipping back to Jasper. Little Genevieve was a hit with everyone and I had never seen Jenny happier. She was waddling from couple to couple with such enthusiasm that I wondered how she would ever handle it when she found out about the beach at La Push.

"Not that this party isn't great, but where are the Flock and the Crew?" I asked about half an hour into my welcome home party.

Carlisle answered, "They were at the beach for a bonfire but they'll join us soon."

"I figured that was where the Flock was, but where are the Crew?" I asked again. Last time I was here, the experiments in the Crew didn't like the wolves all that much and prefered to stay at home.

"Right here." A voice said behind me and I had to do a double take before I recognized who it was. Two years wasn't _that_ long, was it?

"Two-Two?" I asked, staring at the beautiful adult in front of me. Her naturally blonde hair looked like it had been died brown again recently and her figure seemed to have changed dramatically too, but those sweet baby blue eyes were the same. What was she now, nineteen?

"Eighteen." Angel's clone said with a giggle. "And I don't go by Two-Two anymore, my name is Angelica now."

"It suits you." I said and glanced at the next Crew member.

I was happy to see that not everything had changed. Kirby hadn't changed at all, still blonde with random green spots on his skin and didn't seem to age since the last time I saw him, though now he was nineteen. Neither had Serenity, she still had her dark hair, pale skin, and soulless brown eyes that made her look like the part robot she was. Twenty-one still made her look like the young teenager she came here as.

I wondered why he was standing so close to Robot Girl and not Two-Two, I mean Angelica, but that was answered when I heard her voice in my thoughts. _He dumped me for her, can you believe it?_

I shook my head but realized I looked rediculas so I stopped.

Nudge's clone was still with Horse Boy, and it seemed like they prospered since I had been gone.

Nuala's stomach was bulging like she was pregnant again and Denver had a one year old in his arms. The girl reminded me a lot of Denver, but I didn't see any hooves. She had brown little wings sticking out of her blanket, tan skin, brown eyes, and long brown hair.

Jayden, their now four year old part horse son, was running around chasing a toddler that was still in the womb when I left. The little girl had tawny wings, black frizzy hair, and brown eyes, making her look like a duplicate of her mother minus the dark tan skin tone.

"This is Kirrim," Naula said, pointing at the two and a half year old, "Akia," she pointed at the girl in Denver's arms, the baby smiled at me and I couldn't help but grin back, "and you remember Jayden, right?"

"Of course I do." I said, high fiving the little boy who had grown so much.

I introduced the Troopers to the Crew and vice versa. Since we would be living together in Crew Headquarters, I figured it would be a good idea to get them to bond with each other. Jenny joined Nuala's kids running around playing tag, Toni and Robin sat and chatted with Angelica, and Leo talked wtih Carlisle and Edward about the weather. Ray tried to talk with Kirby, the guy closest to his age, but when that failed he joined the girls in their conversation.

Riley was the only one who didn't strike a conversation, but that was because he wasn't all there in the head. Alice tried though, and I think she thinks she got through to him.

I caught up with Naula while Denver went to feed Akia and tried to get any information on Alex and Emma. If he imprinted, I wanted to know. But Naula was a gossip and they like to take their own pace. She told me more about Collin not handling Ella's death more than about their son. It shocked me that Ella had died though so I let her ramble about the funeral.

She was halfway through her story when Emma walked downstairs agian. That was when my mind started to wander and before I knew it, I was on the floor clutching my head in pain. I opened my eyes, blinking back stars, and saw the worry on Emma's beautiful face.

"Wha- happen'd?" I asked groggily, trying to sit up. I was no longer in the living room, but instead in my twin's bedroom.

"I'm so sorry." Emma started to appologize, wiping away blood from my forehead with a wet wash cloth. "I didn't think that he would do that. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been thinking around him..."

"Edward?" I asked, still not sure what happened. One second I was thinking about how beautiful Emma was and how much I wished to make her mine, and the next second I was waking up in here.

"Yeah, sorry about my grandfather." Emma said again, sniffling. "He attacked you out of nowhere. This was supposed to be your homecoming party, and now it's ruined."

"Shh, it's okay. I'm fine, see?" I said, sitting up on the bed in an attempt to show her I was fine and get her to stop crying.

"Fang is gonna be so happy to see that you're okay." Emma said, wiping her tears and smiling at me. "The Flock just arrived half an hour ago and they've been worried sick. Max almost chewed Edward a new one, you should have seen it."


	25. Tension

Chapter Twenty-Five

Max's POV

"Come on, Max." Angel said adorably. "We only want to stay a little bit longer. Please, please, please?" My little girl, who was no longer a little girl since she had turned eighteen a month ago, begged.

We had been at the bonfire for over three hours and the party seemed to be wearing down. I knew that we needed to head back to the Cullen's house for Nick's Homecoming Party or else Alice would kill us, but no one seemed to be ready to leave yet.

Leah and Embry were the only Pack members still here other than the Cullen-Blacks and any imrpinters of the Flock.

Other than their kids of course. Both of their three year old twins were shifters and looked fifteen already. Since they had _two _phasing parents, their DNA was boosted like Jacob's kids weren't. Owen and Derick will probably be completely grown in a year or so. Leah says she wants to get pregnant again though, and hopefully get a non-shifting little girl. After all of her worries that she wouldn't be able to reproduce, apparently she has bonus genes when combined with Embry.

Nudge and Iggy were watching Sierra fly above their heads. The four year old wasn't bothered by the heat of the flames as she tried to dip lower and lower towards it. Iggy just laughed at his ''little firecracker'' and let her continue flying. Her skin was tougher than mine due to being partly vampire but I still worried about her as if she was my blood niece that I treated her like.

Will and Nessie were having a heart to heart by the looks of it, and the mother hugged her son tightly to her chest. I looked for my son amoungst the dark skinned Quillites present and panicked when I couldn't see his brown-blonde hair.

"Allie took him to get some more juice from the house." Angel said, answering my thoughts. Though I was constantly forbidding Angel to read people's minds and invade their privacy, sometimes it was useful. "So can we stay? Pleeeeeeaase?"

I glanced at Fang who was sitting on the driftwood beside me.

Fang shrugged, though slightly as not to wake up Annie who fell asleep on his lap twenty minutes ago. I'm glad that Fang gets to have these daddy-daughter moments with Anastasia still. Her Will is only fifteen physically, five years older than she is, so he doesn't mind sharing his girl with us. I know that one day that will all change, but until then, I know that Fang loves Annie more than anyone ever could.

We found out after I had Arian that I couldn't have any more children without severe risk to my health. Carlisle said it was highly unlikely that I could carry another child, so Arian was my only birthed child. It made me sad, but after watching Ella die, I knew that I wouldn't risk it. I had Annie and AJ, and even more importantly-Fang,and that was enough for me.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but we have to go." I said, glancing at Jacob over the flames. I nodded, finally giving him the signal to put out the flames, and watched as he and Embry smothered the fire until there was nothing but ashes left. You could tell that they had done this many a time before because they were pros.

"Fine." Angel grumbled. "But I'm going to ride home with Seth." She was careful not to say ride home 'on' Seth like she actually meant. Ever since she matured into a woman, she and Seth had strict rules. Especially after what happened with Gazzy and Bex.

"You are to fly home with your family, young lady." Fang said, taking over since he knew I was about to make the same argument. Though I had always been the leader, he didn't fall victim to the girls' Bambi Eyes.

"Seth is my family." Angel said stubbornly.

"You know the rules, Ange." I said, trying to calm her down.

"You just don't understand!" She yelled, stomping off towards the woods. "I can see why Gazzy left!"

Everyone was silenced by her words of anger, but with a pleading look at Fang and I, Seth followed after her. I knew that she would be safe and that she would end up at the Cullen's if Seth was with her. He had a more level head on his shoulders than Gazzy and Bex had had.

"Well, um, maybe we should head back?" Nessie asked, trying to get us back into our happy-bonfire moods we previously were in.

Jacob whistled loudly and a minute later, Allie returned with Arian in the Black family Hummer. Since Nessie and Emma didn't phase, Jacob was intelligent enough to buy a vehicle that could provide their family with a way to travel together long distance.

The Blacks piled into the Hummer, minus Emma who had been at the Cullen's house all day waiting for Nick's arrival.

I went to wake Annie up to prepare for our flight home, but Fang shook his head. "I'll carry her." He whispered.

"She's ten now, Fang, you can't keep treating her like a baby." I said rationally despite how much I knew my husband wanted to do this.

"She is a baby." Fang responded. "Don't worry, Max, I won't drop her and I won't throw my back out flying with her."

"You sure?" I asked, knowing full well that he was. He nodded, preparing to take flight. "Drop her and I'll kill you." I threatened with a grin that I knew he loved.

"I love you, you know." Fang said to me as he wrapped Annie's arms around his neck and placed her legs closer to his waist. In her sleep, she automatically wrapped them around his torso.

"I know." I said back with a smirk. "Flock! Up and Away!"

Nudge took the air first, followed by Sierra and Iggy. I made sure Arian was steady before I urged Fang to go next. Once my Flock, minus Gazzy and Angel, were in the air, I opened my wings widely and jumped straight upwards.

When we arrived, Arian scrambled to hold my hand. He had landed ungracefully and scraped his right elbow. He was always comforted by my presence, which usually helped stop his tears. I was thankful for these moments because it reminded me of how different our childhoods were and how lucky my son was to have not had to experience any of mine.

The first sight I saw when I walked through the Cullen's door was Edward attacking Nick. I paid no attention to the new experiments that Fang's twin had brought with him, or the Crew and Cullens who were staring in shock at the pair on the floor. I did, however, see that Jasper was straining to control himself, and sure enough, he had to excuse himself not even seconds later.

Nick looked like he was out cold, his black hair matting with blood.

"What did you do!" I screamed, letting go of Arian's hand and going to confront Edward. No one hurts my family and gets away with it.

"You should have heard his thoughts..." He growled, still sitting on top of Nick's unmoving body.

"I don't care if he was plotting to kill all of us, he is family and you will regret hurting him. I swear on my life that you will regret this Edward Cullen!" I threatened.

By this time, Fang and Emma had helped Nick to his feet and were trying to get him up the stairs. Edward's eyes were honed in on mine still since I was refusing to let him move. I blocked his path to Nick in case he decided to finish the job.

"I wasn't going to kill him." Edward said with an eyeroll, though he was still seething. It made me wonder what Nick had thought that was so terrible. "I just snapped."

We waited after that. Fang came back downstairs, leaving Emma to guard Nick, and we all waited for news of his safety.


	26. Not So Small Talk

Chapter Twenty-Six

Antonia's POV

There were so many people that I knew but didn't actually _know_ yet. I was the first experiment that Nick rescued and I had been with him for the last two years. He was my everything even though he always tried to downplay my affections. Now I know why; and her name was Emma.

She was incredibly beautiful, I'll give him that, and she didn't seem to be a bad person which I can't help but feel a little terrible about. I had been secretly wishing that Nick's girl back home was an awful person and hidious so that he would come to his senses and realize he loved me.

Robin and I had that in common. I always thought I had a better chance with Nick than she did, but I didn't expect him to have his own crush. I wished for so long that Nick would be mine. But that wasn't how it was supposed to be, and I know that now.

As soon as we arrived at the Cullen's house, we were bombarded with hugs from the strangers. Nick introduced us quickly, pointing at each of the frighteningly beautiful people and saying their names. Some of them clicked just because they were so unique of names. That Jasper guy was definitely one to remember.

The short, dark haired, energetic teenager whispered the strangest thing in my ear when she hugged me. I think her name was Alice, maybe? "Things are going to change in a few minutes." She said with a giggle before she skipped off to the other side of the room.

I didn't have much time to dwell on her criptic message though because more people arrived.

A really pretty brunette started talking to Nick and catching him in on what he missed from being gone for two years. Angela I think was her name. I couldn't be certain because I was only half listening. Mostly, I was watching Jenny waddle around. She was the baby of the Troopers and everyone looked out for her all the time. She was playing with two little kids that looked like they belonged to one of the new couples.

Nick took his time introducing everyone again, though he had just done it to us with the Cullens so now almost everyone knew who we were. If only we could go ahead and meet the Flock that changed our destinies when they took down the School. I had been waiting most of my life for this moment and they weren't even here.

The brunette joined Robin and I on the couch and I tried to remember what her name was.

"It's Angelica." The teen said with a smile. "I'm a mindreader, by the way."

"From the School?" I asked. Something seemed off about this girl; she seemed very familiar.

"Yup." Angelica said proudly. "I'm a clone of one of the most famous Avians alive."

"You're an Avian too?" Robin asked excitedly. I knew the two would be great friends, or at least Robin would consider her a good friend, I can't say anything about the other girl because I just met her.

"Of course." She released one of her snow white angel wings from a slit in the back of her shirt. She rolled her shoulder forwards to put it back under her shirt once we gawked at it.

"They should call you Angel." Robin joked. She was never good at small talk, but I could tell she was really trying with her new friend.

Angelica laughed. "We already have an Angel. The youngest Flock member who bravely fought alongside Maximum Ride at age six. I'm proud to be her clone."

"Doesn't it bother you that you're a duplicate?" I asked, truly curious.

"Nah. I'm my own person, I have my own group, my own friends, and hopefully soon, my own incredibly gorgeous boyfriend." She said with a laugh and a glance around the room. "I don't follow in her shadows, in fact, I'm the leader of the Crew despite being the youngest. Angel never had the guts to do that, to take the reins. Not that Max shouldn't have been leader, because she was amazing at it."

Ray walked over and joined us a few minutes later when the boy he was talking to sat in silence during their conversation.

"That frog boy is such a freak." Ray said, smiling at Angelica when he sat down. "How can you stand living with him?"

"Kirby isn't all bad." She said, but there was pain in her voice.

"Aww, he broke your heart, didn't he?" Robin asked. She had always been able to pick up on people's hidden meanings in what they said quicker than I could. It probably had to do with the fact that she has been taking care of her mentally unstable brother for most of her life and he's not one to talk much.

Angelica looked away, her cheeks tinted pink and I thought I saw a hint of moisture in her baby blue eyes. Ray looked like he wanted to comfort the woman in front of him, but he was just a fifteen year old kid who didn't understand the workings of a girl's mind yet so he sat in his seat.

Out of nowhere, Edward, the tall mildly attractive looking stoner, attacked our leader. Nick was out on the ground and the pretty girl he loved helped rush him upstairs with a guy nearly identical version of Nick. That had to be the Fang guy Nick was always talking about.

I didn't even notice him coming in the house, let alone all of the other people. I knew which one was Maximum Ride as soon as she started yelling. Poor Edward was reaping the blunt of her insults, but it was becasue he had hurt her family and no one does that to Maximum Ride and gets away with it. Seriously, I've heard more stories about her adventures from scientists in the lab than I could even begin to describe.

I tried to get a head count of the new arrivals, who I assumed were the Flock, but they were all over the place and had mixed in with the Cullens, Troopers, and Crew members.

Angel came and sat with us, bringing along a buff, totally gorgeous, dark skinned guy. He sat down on the couch next to Angelica, and patted his lap for Angel to sit on him. It was quite a sight to see. The girls were identical minus the hair color, but I was beginning to suspect that Angie was the one who died hers.

_Angie, I like it. _I heard someone's thoughts in my head besides my own.

"W-who did that?" I asked, completely startled.

The twins (which I will call them since clone seems rather harsh and as Angelica said, she's her own person) giggled.

"Sorry, that was me. We can project our thoughts to other people as well as read other people's minds." Angelica said, twirling a piece of her dark hair behind her ear.

"Oh my gosh, that is so cool." Robin said with a grin.

I couldn't help but notice how much attention Raymond paid to Angelica's motions. I would have to have Leo have a talk with his son about girls soon. Angie's cheeks turned pink again.

"You get used to it." The unintroduced man said with a grin at the girl in his lap and a kiss to her forehead.

"This is Seth Clearwater, the most amazing boyfriend on the entire planet. He's my whole world and I plan to marry him soon." Angel said, glaring over my head at someone in the room.

I felt someone standing behind me, but didn't bother to turn around and see who it was. I had been bombarded with meeting new people enough today. Though I would like to catch a word with Maximum Ride before we were sent to bed.

"I'm sure that Max won't like that." A mediumly deep voice said behind me. "You know that you're only pushing her buttons, Angel."

"Why don't you butt out of it, Owen. It's none of your buisness." Angel said defiantly.

It was hard to believe she was only a year younger than me with the way she was acting like such a teenager right now. I missed out on most of that stage when I grew up because it got violent for my twin Antony whenever I acted out. That's why he left when Nick rescued us; he hates me for all the things that I did.

It was then that I turned around to see who was talking. The guy was tall, muscular (but not gross looking), and dark skinned like Seth. He had coal black hair that was spiked up and adorable dimples. But the thing I noticed most about him was his eyes; a beautiful shade of hazel that made me want to take a picture just so I could shade it in perfectly when I drew it later in my sketch book.

"Hi, I'm Antonia, but y-you can call me Toni." I said, trying not to stutter in his presense. He seemed to be having the same problem. "I-I'm Owen Call."

* * *

**AN: Can you say "awwwwww?" Lol. If you didn't already figure it out, Owen imprinted on Toni. (Sorry, I just love imprintings and happily ever afters, especially since the beginning of this story was really sad) **

**Review :) **


	27. Marry Me?

_About six months later..._

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Chapter Twenty-Seven

Emma's POV

We were high up in a tree, Nick having flew us here so we could have a moment of peace, and the cold air was tickling my pale skin. Nick wrapped his arms me to warm me up and the feel of his heartbeat beating sparadically with mine made me smile against his chest.

Ever since he got back and Edward went all crazy on him, we've been pursuing our relationship. That is a lot easier said than done when I live in a house full of vampires and werewolves and he lives in a house with twenty-odd experiments with their own unique set of rules for how our relationship should be developing. They all have good in their hearts, even my family who are so overprotecting that Nick is a little intimidated, but sometimes we just need a break.

"I love you." Nick said, brushing back a piece of my hair.

"I know you do." I said with a giggle, burrying my nose in the crook of his neck.

"Don't you?" He asked, cupping my chin with his gentle fingers.

I smiled up at him widely, not caring that I was giving up on my usual game. "Of course I do."

"Then why won't you marry me?" He asked for the third time that night.

"Because." I reasoned stubbornly. I was tired of having this conversation.

"Don't be like that," Nick said gently. "I just want to know what's going on in that pretty little head of yours."

This comment made me blush, but I fought the urge to give into it. Still, my cheeks responded anyways.

"You know why." I said sternly.

"Is this about Bex and Gazzy?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. There was nothing that ever got past him; that was part of the reason I loved him so much.

I nodded. "Momma was devastated when Bex ran away to get married and when Gazzy broke her heart and ran off with some random girl he met at a bar one night, she was torn apart inside. She still won't come out of her room since she's been back."

"Daddy said we should treat her like nothing happened but it's getting hard to ignore it." I continued, trying not to cry as I thought about my poor, broken sister. "She won't eat, barely sleeps, and when she talks to anyone, it's only to Leah since she felt this pain when Sam left her."

"I can't believe he would do something like that." Nick said, stroking back my hair subconsciously. "What guy in his right mind would abandon his wife; especially when she was as special as your sister."

"You think she's special?" I asked, trying to hide the hurt and pain that was evident in my voice.

He smiled lightly. "I think your whole family is special." A gentle kiss to my temple, then one to my cheek, another to my nose, before finally placing one delicately on my lips. "But it's you that I am completely head over heels, real deal, honest to god in love with." He said sincerely. "I wouldn't care if nothing ever changed as long as I got to keep you with me forever."

"You mean it?" I asked, not sure if he was just trying to get me to marry him still. "You wouldn't care if we never got married?"

He looked thoughtful, but finally answered after a minute. "Would I be a little disapointed? Yeah, I can't lie, I want you to be my wife more than anything in the world because it would mean that I belonged to you. But would I force you to do something you aren't ready for? Never, I love you too much for that, Ems."

"Do you ever think about what we would be like if we didn't have our backgrounds?" I asked after ten minutes of quiet, not uncomfortable silence. "I mean, do you think we would have been together if I wasn't a half vampire or you weren't an Avian?"

"Do I think that we'd fall in love?" He asked back. "I would like to think so. Because I know that if I hadn't of met you, and hadn't of gotten the chance to experience the love you have to offer, I don't think I would be the same person. I don't think I would be able to handle my life if you weren't in it."

I rested my head back against his chest, letting him continue to place soft kisses on the top of my head, while I thought about what he had said. Sometimes I wondered if he could read my mind because that was exactly how I felt.

Staring at the stars from this close reminded me of the future that we could have. I wouldn't be stuck on the ground, both literally and figuratively, and I would be able to experience the world with new eyes. I was eight years old technically, but I was a grown woman now. It was time for me to stop being afraid of taking a chance and just live.

"Ask me again." I whispered, leaning my head up so he could see my eyes.

"Ask what?" He responded before it clicked. "Emma Roseme Black, will you marry me?"

"Yes," I said, a huge smile spreading across my face as he pressed his lips to mine.

And like that, I had my very own happy ending. Screw Cinderella and Snow White, I was a Black; we made our own destiny.

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**AN: That's the end, folks. Thanks for sticking with me through this four part story. It really has been a blast to write. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did :) **


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